Hidden in the Sky
by Gabe
Summary: When a force from another world threatens their existence, six friends unite together in a desperate attempt to survive. As their world and their way of life come crashing down around them, the six of them hide inside an apartment, until an unknown force
1. Prologue

The joy of sleep, a peaceful dream, pleasant thoughts. 

Gone.

Ross Gellar's eyes flew open, and he didn't know why. No loud noise was made, he wasn't having a nightmare, and his alarm clock wasn't going off.

"Ross?" Ross rolled 180 degrees so that he was no longer facing the wall, and was instead facing his wife, who looked as though she hadn't slept at all. She didn't look tired, or in pain, she just looked...different. Enchanted, possessed…Ross couldn't find the right word.

"Pheebs?" He expected her to answer, to explain why she was awake, and why she looked so odd, but she didn't. She continued to stare at him, so he tried again. "Pheebs?"

"It's silent." Ross wasn't sure what to make of her reply, he was hoping for something a little more detailed. He stayed for a second, and noticed that it was indeed silent around them. 

"Yes it is. But it's also four in the morning."

"It's been silent for six days." Her expression was blank. She didn't seem to be thinking about what she was saying…she was just saying it.

"Pheebs, hun, it's late, or it's early, and I'm not sure what you're getting at." He stifled a yawn as he struggled to stay awake and continue to give his wife his attention.

"There's no life out there. No crickets, no cats, no dogs…everything is hiding."

"There are people out there Pheebs. None of them are hiding." He suddenly found himself talking to her as if she was a child. He started to wonder if he was still dreaming.

"People are ignorant. They can't sense what is coming like animals can."

"And do you know what is coming?" 

"Yes."

"Phoebe, what is coming?" All thought of sleep had left him. All he wanted was to find our what was bothering his wife so much.

"That's the wrong question Dr. Gellar." Dr. Gellar. She rarely called him that. It was a name she only used in a teasing manner…or in a seductive one.

"Then what is the right question?" 

She was silent for a moment, as if she was deciding whether or not she could trust him with her information. She didn't blink, she barely seemed to breathe…she just stared at him, she was blank.

"The right question isn't 'what is coming?' The right question is…'who is coming?' " Her eyes fell closed, and her body seemed to come back to life from her previous motionless state. Her breathing returned to that of which it always was when she slept, and Ross stayed there wide awake, utterly confused as to what had just happened.

He forced his eyes closed, and continued to tell himself that this was all a dream. 

It was just too weird to be real.

****


	2. Hidden in the Sky

****

This story is based upon a movie I saw a few weeks ago, and many of you have probably seen it to. This story is by no means a copy of that movie with Friends characters. This tale is an original. Only instances and themes from that movie have been used in this fanfic. Friends fanfiction has been in dire need of some thrillers, so I thought I would try to contribute. Once again, this story is not a copy, it is just inspired by that great film that I saw a few weeks ago. If you haven't figured out the movie, great. If you have, go see it (again). It's worth the money. Anyway, enjoy the fic.

His eyes flew open without any reason, waking him from his peaceful sleep. It was becoming an annoying trend.

He sat up in bed, and glanced around the room, not surprised to find it empty. She was always awake before he was. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand, it was 11:30 AM. He normally never slept so late, but it was spring break for all the schools in the area, which meant Phoebe, his wife, who was a high school Art teacher, and him, a world history teacher, had the week off also.

He slipped a pair of his blue pajama pants on over his boxers, and slipped a white T-shirt on over the undershirt he had worn to bed. When he emerged from his bedroom, he found the whole gang spread throughout the house. Phoebe was at the fridge, rummaging through it for something. Monica, his sister, was at the stove, cooking up more breakfast. She was a chef professionally, but she also made a lot of food at home, since her husband, Joey, hardly ever got full. It was a good thing his role on NYPD Blue was a very physical one, or he never would have worked off all the pounds. The two of them lived in the apartment directly above theirs.

And cuddled up together on the couch were Rachel and Chandler. They were recently engaged, and hardly ever left each other's side. They were both writers, and both worked out of their home across the hall from Ross and Phoebe. Rachel wrote erotic novels, a hobby she had picked up from Chandler's famous mom, that eventually turned into a successful career. Chandler wrote screenplays that were sold off to filmmakers upon completion. He had several independent and B movie hits, but only one blockbuster under his belt. It was a comedy called The Whole Nine Yards, and the main character was based upon himself.

The chorus of 'good morning's' rung out from the group as Ross walked towards the kitchen and the smell of food. "Good morning." He stepped behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest as he nuzzled the side of her neck. "And good morning to you," he mumbled against her skin, a grin spread across his lips.

"Well good morning," she replied, a slight giggle escaping her lips. "Too bad you weren't feeling this way last night."

"Glad to hear your spending your vacation the right way Ross." Joey smiled as he brought another fork full of eggs towards his lips.

Ross sighed and poured himself a cup of coffee. "So what was up with you last night?"

Phoebe grabbed the milk from the fridge and sat it on the counter, "What are you talking about?"

"You know, last night, when you woke me up. You started talking crazy about someone coming and things being silent."

Phoebe looked at him with furrowed brows, clueless at to what he was talking about. "Um, Ross, are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

"So you didn't even dream about having sex with your wife last night? What's the matter with you?" Joey shook his head and sighed as he turned his attention back to his food.

Ross shrugged and put the coffee pot back on its stand, "I don't know, maybe I was."

Ross took his cup of coffee and walked into the living room, taking a seat in the chair that sat close to the couch and coffee table. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, but found it hard to focus on the screen because of what was happening on his couch. Rachel and Chandler were lying there, cuddled up in each other, making out. As always. Ross rubbed his hand against his forehead and cleared his throat, "Do you guys have to do that here."

Chandler pulled his lips from Rachel's to look up at Ross, which only inspired her to kiss and nibble around his ear and neck. Chandler fought back a moan as he raised an eyebrow at Ross, "Would you like us to use your bedroom?"

"I'd like you to use your own bedroom. You live right across the hall, it's not that far." 

Rachel's hand disappeared from Ross' view and he decided not to think about where it may have gone. Chandler sighed, "Sorry Ross, I think it would be embarrassing for me to stand up right now." 

Rachel giggled as she kissed his cheek, and pushed her forehead against his, "Trust me honey, there's absolutely nothing embarrassing about what you keep down there." She pointed downwards with her finger and kissed him again.

Ross looked to his friend in the living room for help in his argument, but none seemed like they would say anything. Monica sat another plate of food onto the table and looked to her brother, "Oh come on Ross, don't you remember what it was like to just get engaged?" 

Joey laughed, "He should, he's been engaged like a million times."

"Three," Ross corrected him, "I've only been married three times." He smiled at Phoebe, "And the third time's the charm." Ross was first married when he was fairly young, only 22. He met his first wife, Carol, in college. They were only married for a year and a half when Carol broke some life changing news to him…she was a lesbian. His second marriage was to a girl Rachel had set him up with named Emily. They had only been married 11 months when Emily confessed she had been cheating on him with a professional rugby player from her native Britain. And then, the most amazing thing happened, and he fell in love with one of his best friends. His life had been great ever since.

*************

The group had decided to spend the day at Central Park, walking, bird watching, and just hanging out. That's all they really did lately. They used to party a lot, but since they had all passed thirty, they had all calmed down. They found more joy and fun in just being with one another than they did when they were getting drunk. And since none of them were single, the drive to meet new people was no longer present. 

They all were lying down on a blanket, enjoying the weather, and watching some junior high kids play football about a hundred yards away from them. Rachel, who was sitting in between Chandler legs, resting her back against his chest, and her head against his shoulder, broke the silence that had fallen over them. "What do you guys think of an outdoor wedding?" Even though only two were getting married, the responsibility of planning the wedding seemed to fall onto all of them.

"I think it would be nice, and different," Monica chimed in, the rest of the group quick to follow with their approvals.

"What do you think Hun?" Rachel glanced up at Chandler, who's attention seemed to be elsewhere. 

"I want what you want. This day is going to be perfect for you. Name it, and you got it." Chandler smiled and ran a few fingers through her hair. He used to be so afraid of commitment, which is why he took so long to pop the question. In reality, Chandler and Rachel had been together longer than Phoebe and Ross, but because of Chandler's fear of marriage, and Ross' love of marriage, they were the last to get engaged. 

The two of them first got together on a one-night stand. It was new year's eve, and everyone was having fun but them. Monica and Joey had just gotten together, and couldn't keep their hands off each other. Ross was with Emily, his wife at the time, and they too were having fun in their drunken states. Phoebe was with her date, Parker, who was keeping her giddy with his constant enthusiasm, while Rachel and Chandler sat on the couch alone. Chandler had been stood up by his date, Janice, and Rachel had just gone through a tough break up with her boyfriend Mark. As the party cleared out, and the two of them, who were only roommates at the time, went home, they found themselves strangely attached to one another. After a few more drinks, they ended up in the bedroom.

The one-night stand quickly turned into more than that, as they found themselves in each other's beds quite often. It went on for months, just sleeping together, because both were too afraid to admit that they wanted more. But one night, when Monica and Joey had caught them going at it on the kitchen counter, everything came out, and both confessed that they were indeed in love. They had been together, and happy, ever since.

"Ooh! Check out that bird!" Phoebe pointed in the air towards a brightly colored redbird. It was soaring high in the air, but its red color made it stand out against the clear blue sky of New York City. The gang followed the bird with their eyes, consumed in the sight of the beautiful animal soaring so easily above them. 

Then suddenly, everything went wrong.

The bird was flying high, when it seemed to crash into something in midair, and fall straight down out of the sky. The bird landed only twenty feet from them. "Woah!" Joey screamed, and led the group as they ran towards the bird. 

"Oh my god!" Phoebe's hand went to cover her mouth as she turned and buried her face in Ross' chest. The bird's neck was completely broken, as its head had been pushed straight back into its body, as if it had flown dead on into a wall.

"What the hell did it hit?" Chandler's eyes, along with everyone else's, scanned the sky above them, but found nothing but clear blue. 

Ross glanced back down on the bird, and shook his head. "What in the world just happened?"

********

The picnic ended right after the bird incident, all of them were too freaked out to stay there. All six headed back to Ross and Phoebe's, where they all stayed unusually quiet. Things like that didn't happen to them, everything in their lives was normal, so when anything slightly odd happened, it shook all of them up.

They all found seats in the living room, and Ross turned on the TV. After flipping through a few channels, he stopped on one of the local channels, where a breaking news logo had flashed on the screen.

__

Good afternoon everyone I'm Hillary Fischer and we have some breaking news for you coming from the New York City area. A few moments ago, one of our camera crews caught exclusive footage of a skydiving accident that just occurred over the skies of Central Park. We must warn you, the footage you are about to see is both graphic, and as of now, unexplained…

The group stared at the TV as they saw a man gliding down towards the Earth, his parachute just starting to open, when he seemed to crash into something. The man laid there motionless, looking as if he was floating on his back in mid air. Everyone's jaw dropped, and everyone's eyes widened. Ross looked closer at the screen, "What the hell is he laying on?" 

Suddenly, the motionless skydiver looked as if he was on slide, slowly moving downwards, until nothing was under him anymore, and he fell to the ground.

"Oh my god!" Chandler jumped up from his seat and ran to the TV, he pointed on the screen to the area behind the dead skydiver. "Look at those kids back there! They're playing football! That's exactly where we were!" 

Ross stood from his chair, too nervous to sit down any longer. The TV station replayed the video of the skydiver, and the group sat transfixed in front of the screen. Ross walked towards the window that took him out to his balcony, and climbed through it. He leaned against the railing, and stared out towards Central Park.

After a few moments, Joey joined him on the balcony. Ross glanced back at him, before returning his eyes to the sky over Central Park.

"What the hell is hidden in that sky?"

****

That's the end of chapter 1! I hope everyone enjoyed it and I hope it leaves you all craving for more. Because I have such a history of taking forever to continue a story, I went ahead and wrote the whole story at once, and will be releasing one chapter every one or two days, that way no one has to wait weeks for an additional piece of the story. I beg everyone who read this, to leave a review, good or bad, and tell me what you thought.

If you have any private comments, suggestions, ideas, or just want to talk about Friends, feel free to IM me or Email me at Exiled Sarcasm@aol.com


	3. Close Encounters

**__**

This is the second Chapter of Hidden in the Sky. Thanks for the reviews of Chapter 1, the good and the bad, I appreciate them. I made the mistake of writing this chapter late at night, when no one was home, so I kind of freaked even myself out with it lol. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it. To answer a few questions, no, the fic will not be like, or end like, the movie in question. 

To answer another question, the characters' looks in this fic vary. The guys all have their season 2 looks. Young, and decent hair. I'd say the girls were season 2 also, except Monica, who I would imagine with more of her season 3 style. I know, to some of you it doesn't matter at all, but someone asked and that is how I pictured it when I wrote this. I can't think of anything else to say other than I hope you all like it. So here's Chapter 2.

Hidden in the Sky

"What the hell is hidden in that sky?"

Joey shrugged, and moved to stand beside his friend on the balcony. "I don't know. But I don't like it." They both remained silent for a few minutes, staring out over the park, as their friends sat inside in front of the TV. Joey sighed, and scratched the hair on the back of his head. "I don't know. Maybe it's some secret government thing. Some invisible shield or something that they were just testing out."

"Maybe," Ross nodded, but didn't move his eyes off the sky.

"Maybe it's all being faked by some pranksters, ya know? Maybe it's just a big hoax." Monica joined the conversation as she walked out onto the balcony. Joey's arm slid around her as she pulled close to him.

"Maybe it's God." 

Joey and Monica both looked at Ross, but his gaze didn't falter. They both knew he wasn't a very religious person, so hearing him speak about God was definitely out of character. They continued to look at him, expecting to have more of an explanation, but they got none.

The sound of Chandler's voice from the window broke up the moment. "You guys should probably see this."

The three of them followed him back into the living room, where the news was now flashing another breaking news report.

__

As experts pore through the limited information on the footage we just showed you, another piece of tape is being sent to us via satellite from our affiliate in Houston, where a similar accident has occurred, this time involving a small private jet. Again, we must warn you that this footage is both graphic and disturbing. 

The six of them stared at the television as the footage began to roll. A small private jet plane was flying in for it's landing. Everything seemed to be going normal, when in mid air, the plane seemed to crash into something. The nose crushed into the body of the plane, and an instant later, it erupted in an explosion. The girls shrieked and the guys cringed as the reality of what just happened settled into their minds.

"Oh my god," Rachel turned her head from the screen, not bearing to watch anymore. "That's so horrible."

__

Our White House correspondent has reported that the US military is now looking into the possibility of a foreign weapons test occurring over the skies of America. The unexplained events of late have sent government heads into a frenzy for answers, and preliminary reports from the governor's office suggest that a state of martial law could be put into effect in New York City as soon as Eight PM tonight. We'll update you with more information as soon as we have it. We'll now return you to the Simpsons.

Phoebe looked at her husband, "What time is it?"

Ross raised his arm to check the Rolex on his wrist. "It's five. In three hours the streets could be filled national guardsman, and the city could have a curfew."

Monica shut off the TV and walked back to the chair where Joey was sitting. She sat down and made herself comfortable in his lap. "This is creepy."

Phoebe nodded her agreement, "Maybe everyone should stay here tonight. You know, just for comfort." 

"Ooh a sleepover!" Rachel jumped off the couch and squealed, as did Monica. Temporarily their minds were off the weird events of late.

Chandler looked to Ross, "Does this mean we get to have pillow fights in our underwear?" Ross rolled his eyes and stood up from his seat on the couch. 

He walked into the living room and opened the fridge. "You know, a couple of us should probably go out and get some junk food. We don't have anything here that can be fixed in less than two minutes. Unless one of you guys has some at your place."

Chandler shook his head negatively, "Nope. We always eat here."

Monica did the same. "I always cook here." Whenever they weren't working, everyone was crowded in Ross and Phoebe's place. Sometimes the group hung out there even when both Ross and Phoebe were gone. It was only fair, they had the biggest apartment of everyone, so they had to deal with the hosting duties.

"Alright then," Ross closed the door of the fridge and looked over his friends, "who's coming with me to the grocery?" Of course, no one volunteered. They were generally a lazy group, and the strange things happening outside didn't help Ross' quest to find some helpers. "Ok, no volunteers…" Ross suddenly felt like he was back inside his World History classroom, "Chandler, Joey, you're coming with me."

The two men groaned like students in his class, and hesitantly walked towards the door. Chandler kissed Rachel good buy and glared at Ross, "Fine, I'm going. But if I walk into something invisible and break my nose, I'm suing you."

Ross followed him out the door, "What of mine do you not use already?"

***********

The guys weren't surprised to see that all traffic had stopped outside. Crowds of people were everywhere, some simply staring at the sky over Central Park, others were engaged in conversations varying from the end of the world, to it being a big hoax, to talks of some foreign killing machine. No one was sure what was going on, but everyone was scared.

The walk to the grocery store was quiet, all three of them were too busy taking in the conversations around them to start one of their own. Ross had been a little freaked out since the whole thing had started, but he wasn't prepared for the mass hysteria that was starting to develop inside the city. Ross looked at his two friends, "I knew this was big, but I wasn't expecting this."

Chandler nodded his agreement, "It's just a phase. An excuse for everyone to get together and have conversations they usually never get to have. Everyone's just taking up the opportunity to sound intelligent and scholarly." It was almost like a scene from a movie, the way crowds of people would gather together to just talk. Chandler noticed a man on the other side of the street standing on a bench screaming bible scriptures and talking about God's return. Chandler just shook his head and thought, 'The world is going crazy.'

The grocery store was packed full of people. The craze instantly reminded Ross of the way people acted during the country's Y2K frenzy. People were busy grabbing the bare necessities such as canned goods, water, and bread, which left the snack isle, their isle of destination, wide open. 

The three of them separated and started to gather the snacks they liked, and more importantly, the snacks they knew would please their significant others. After each had picked up more than they could really carry, they made their way towards the cash registers. The lines were long, people had carts and carts of goods, while the store seemed to have a major shortage of workers. Luckily for them, a new register opened up just as they approached, and they were the first in its line.

They paid in cash and bagged their own goods. Once outside, they noticed that the crowd of people had increased to even larger numbers. Wanting to avoid as much talk as possible, they stayed on the edge of the sidewalk as they walked back. Their pace was quicker than the one they had taken on their way to the store, the crowd of nervous people making them more on edge than they wanted to be. They were making good time, avoiding all the crowds when all the sudden, Chandler stopped walking.

Joey was the first to notice, and Ross was right after him. They looked back at their friend with quizzical looks on their faces. Ross furrowed his brows, "Chandler?" Chandler didn't move, he simply stared down an alleyway, a blank expression painted on his face. 

Then he dropped his grocery bags.

Joey looked at Ross, and followed him towards Chandler. Ross gently placed his hand on his friends shoulder, "Chandler, what's wrong?" 

Slowly, Chandler turned his head towards his two friends, who were staring intently at his face. He started to tremble, his whole body shaking slightly. His voice was a whisper, and broken from the trembling of his lips. "What…the hell…is that?"

Ross looked to Joey, who shook his head, unsure what Chandler was referring to. "What are you talking about?"

Chandler pressed his lips together, and slowly turned his trembling head back the way it was facing. Lightly, he nodded his head forward, encouraging them to look in that direction. He whispered again, "That."

Both Ross and Joey slowly turned their heads in the direction that Chandler was looking. And they saw it too.

At the end of the alleyway was a tall figure. It was as green as the leaves on a tree in spring, as tall as Chandler, with a head that looked a little too big for its body. And it was staring right back at them.

Ross didn't know what to think. His mind was running a mile a minute trying to figure out what that was standing 100 feet away from him. And then he got it. It was Spring Break. Kids were bored, and there were plenty of people outside to scare. He was convinced it was some teen looking for a good time…and Ross decided to turn the tables. "Let's find out."

Chandler and Joey both looked at Ross wide eyed, but before they could say anything to him, he was gone, running at full speed towards the figure, and the two of them didn't have any choice but to follow him. As soon as Ross had taken off, so had the figure, behind the building to their right. All three turned the corner, and ran through the narrow walkway between the building and the fence behind it. After a few paces, there no direction to go but right, into another alleyway that led back onto the street they were once on.

They turned into that second alleyway, and were surprised to find it empty. There was no sign of the figure anywhere. Until they saw slight movement in a doorway towards the end of the alley. The three of them ran as fast as they could down the small little road, only to find in that doorway, a drunken homeless man, sipping on a bottle of what had to be alcohol. 

He was a short little man, dressed in clothes that seemed to be nothing more than rags. And he had a gray beard that was dirty from years of not washing or shaving. Chandler looked down to him, and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. All these things were happening in the world, and he was alone. "Excuse me sir, did you happen to see anything come running down this alley."

The man looked up at him, and simply nodded yes. He took another large drink from his beer, before throwing the empty piece of glass into a corner. "Just let it go fellas…they're all on their way…" He pushed his fragile body into the corner of the doorway, and started to lay some newspapers over his body. He glanced up at the three of them one more time before going to sleep, "And we can't stop them."

*******

The girls sat together at the small kitchen table, barely listening to report coming in over the TV in the living room. The guys had been gone for two hours, and they were all starting to lose their nerves. 

They had sat at that table a million times before and talked about everything there was to talk about. Of course, their favorite thing to talk about was their men. They constantly confided in each other how lucky they all felt to have found their soulmates the way they did. They were a tight group as a whole, but they were even tighter in couples. They knew each other inside and out, backwards and forwards. 

It was after seven, and it was fairly dark in New York City. They too had noticed the crowd that had developed outside, and they wondered if the guys had just gotten caught up in it. Their question was answered when they came in the door.

They all looked tired and worn out, and none of them were carrying any groceries. The girls immediately got up and ran towards them. Rachel was the first to ask, "What happened to you guys?!" 

The six of them slowly walked into the living room, where the guys immediately collapsed in exhaustion on the couch. The three girls simply stared down at them, waiting on explanation, so Phoebe asked again, "Come on, tell us why you guys look so tired."

Chandler sat upright, and exhaled a deep breath. "I saw something. It was some figure…creature…thing. And I just froze. And it just stared at me. And when Joey and Ross finally saw it too, Ross got the bright idea in his head to go chasing after it. And of course, Joey and I couldn't let him go chase some figure thing all by his lonesome, so we had to follow him. So we chased that thing down the alley and then we chased it around corner, and then boom, the damn thing is gone. Completely out of sight. It had totally outrun us…and that's really not that hard to believe since none of us are in that great of shape! But no. That wasn't enough for Dr. Gellar over here. We had to go searching through the thousands of people gathered outside, to see if we could see someone in a large alien suit."

Monica cleared her throat, to stifle back a laugh. "I'm sorry, you guys think it was an alien?"

Joey spoke up next, "Yeah, I do. That thing looked real, and it outran us easy. I mean it wasn't just fast, it was quick as lightning. It was there, and then it was gone."

Ross ran his hand through his hair. "You know what, it doesn't matter if it was real or not because we're all going to lock ourselves in this apartment for the next 18 hours. So Joey and Monica, Chandler and Rachel, head back to your apartments, get whatever you might need, and hurry back here."

Rachel sighed, "Come on guys, don't you think you're overreacting a little bit? I mean, why should we get all freaked out just because you think you saw an alien? I mean aren't you being a little paranoid?"

Chandler stood from the couch, "Humor us." He gently took her hand and began leading her towards the door. Joey was quick to follow, dragging Monica along with him. "We'll just do this for tonight. Maybe we're being stupid. But I can live with that." Chandler held the door open for Rachel, Joey, and Monica. 

Rachel pulled out the key to their apartment as Joey and Monica headed for the stairs. Chandler looked back at them as Rachel opened the door and headed inside. "You guys hurry…." He was interrupted by the sound of Rachel's voice.

Screaming.

**__**

Ooh. Quite the cliffhanger lol. Here's where things start to get good. The next chapter will be out within the next two days, if the website decides to cooperate. Please, please, please, drop a review. Good or bad. It's hard to improve when I don't know what you think. So leave a review or drop me a line at Exiled Sarcasm@aol.com. 


	4. Protecting His Love

****

Thanks for all the reviews, I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story. Sorry it took me so long to get updated, I've been busy the last few days and just haven't had the chance to post the new chapter. Anyway, here it is, I hope everyone enjoys it. Oh, and just to clear up something said in a review, in this fic Ross and Rachel never happened, and neither did Chandler and Monica. So there were no previous relationships to feel weird about.

Chandler stood from the couch, "Humor us." He gently took her hand and began leading her towards the door. Joey was quick to follow, dragging Monica along with him. "We'll just do this for tonight. Maybe we're being stupid. But I can live with that." Chandler held the door open for Rachel, Joey, and Monica. 

Rachel pulled out the key to their apartment as Joey and Monica headed for the stairs. Chandler looked back at them as Rachel opened the door and headed inside. "You guys hurry…." He was interrupted by the sound of Rachel's voice.

Screaming.

Chandler's eyes widened as he turned and ran into the house towards his screaming fiancé. Monica and Joey were following close behind, but as soon as they entered they apartment, they stopped dead in their tracks. Joey recognized the problem immediately. It was the same figure they had seen on the street earlier that day, and as Rachel stood there by the counter that separated the kitchen and the living room, it was slowly approaching her. 

Chandler, however, was already on top of the problem. As soon as he had seen the figure in the house, he ran towards the utensil drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a knife. After seeing that the figure was still approaching his fiancée, Chandler hopped onto the counter, and dove at the figure, knife in hand, and knocked them both to the ground.

Joey ran forward and directed the girls out of the apartment, "Get Ross!" After pushing the girls out the door, Joey turned around to see Chandler lying on the floor, and the figure starting to stand up. Immediately Joey rushed it, knocking it over, and falling on top of it. He had already hit it once across its face when he noticed the knife Chandler had been carrying lying on the ground. He reached for it, but just as he got a grip on it, the figure flipped him over, and started to move towards the window by Chandler's bedroom door. 

Joey pushed himself off the ground as quick as he could, and chased after the figure as it rushed to get out the window. The figure was halfway out the window, when Joey lunged at it, the knife in hand. The knife sliced across the figure's arm as it jumped out onto the fire escape. Joey was about to go out the window after it, when Ross came running in the door. "Chandler!" 

It was then that Joey noticed Chandler hadn't gotten up yet. He and Ross ran towards their friend, both kneeling down to see if he was okay. Joey turned him over off of his stomach, "Chandler, you okay man?" Chandler seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness, and his friends finally saw why when they noticed the blood stain near the bottom left side of his shirt. "What happened?" He and Ross lifted off Chandler's shirt to reveal a large cut running along the whole left side of Chandler's chest.

Chandler managed to mumble out, "He cut me with something. It felt like a knife." Joey grabbed Chandler shirt and tied it around his chest, applying pressure to the cut. They had to do everything they could to stop the bleeding, because it showed no signs of letting up.

Joey sighed and looked up at Ross. "I was in here having a fight with that thing and I didn't notice him carrying anything sharp." Ross shook his head and shrugged his shoulders to show Joey that he didn't know how it happened either. Joey got up, "I'm gonna look around the apartment, run back to your place and dial 911." Ross nodded and Joey slowly made his way into Rachel's bedroom, to see if the coast was clear.

Ross ran back inside his apartment and closed the door behind him. Rachel was sitting in between Monica and Phoebe at the table, sobbing and shaking from the frightening experience she had just had. Ross rushed passed them into the living room, looking for the phone that normally sat in there. He glanced back towards Phoebe at the table, "Where's the cordless phone?" 

"Right here." Phoebe held it up so he could see it. "Why do you need it?" She asked as she handed it to him. 

"I have to call 911." Ross put the phone to his ear and waited for an answer. "Chandler got…"

Before Ross could finish his sentence he was interrupted by Rachel. "Chandler!" Rachel's heart fell to the pit of her stomach as she jumped out of her chair. Not waiting to here the rest of what Ross had to say, she ran back across the hall into their apartment. "Chandler!" She shrieked again as she knelt beside Joey next to him. "What happened?!"

Joey answered for his weakened friend. "The thing sliced him with something when he knocked him onto the ground." Joey's hands had blood covering them as a result of applying more pressure against the wound. Chandler's eyelids fluttered constantly as he wove in and out of consciousness. Joey exhaled, and used all his strength to apply pressure against the cut. He grunted out words as he pressed, "Chandler…if you can hear me…I really need you to stay awake."

Chandler let out a groan as his eyelids slowed a bit. Joey knew things were not looking good. He turned to Rachel, "You try talking to him Rach. Just try to keep him awake. Things are going to get a lot worse if he loses consciousness." He was hoping Ross would rush threw the door soon and tell him help was on the way, but he seemed to be taking forever. 

Rachel picked up Chandler's left hand and squeezed it. "Chandler…honey, can you hear me?" She didn't get a response, and the grip of his hand on hers started to lighten. "Chandler stay awake baby…you have to stay awake." Again the grip loosened, and the speed of his fluttering eyebrows dropped considerably. "Chandler Bing! Don't you dare doze off on me!"

Chandler groaned, "Good god Rach I'm not a machine."

Rachel smiled over at Joey, who smiled down at Chandler. "Well that's a start."

Finally, after seemingly being gone for hours, Ross rushed back in the door. "We have a problem." Before anyone could ask what, Ross grabbed the remote off the counter and turned on the television that sat in Chandler and Rachel's living room. The TV screen slowly came to life, revealing exactly what Ross was talking about. Dozens of lights burned in the sky over the New York City skyline.

__

At latest count there seem to be fourteen different Unidentified Flying Objects hovering over the New York City skyline, and if they continue to arrive at the same pace, there could be as many as 200 above the city by midnight. The US Air Force is reportedly picking up these aircraft on its satellite imagery, but they have still yet to determine where they come from. Mexico and Canada have confirmed that the aircraft do not belong to either country's military arsenal, and no planes have flown over either border that have not been accounted for. The NYPD, FDNY, and Emergency Response Center have all reported overloads of 911 calls backing them up for several hours, if not days…

"We're never going to get an ambulance out here." Ross sighed and looked down at his friends. "How's he doing?"

"Better." Joey nodded, standing up beside Chandler. "He should be alright. We should just cover up the wound and let him get some rest. We'll let him lie here for another minute or two, then we'll move him over to the guest room at your place."

Ross shook his head and walked passed Chandler, "I wonder if you can see the lights from here." He began to lean against the window, looking out over the sky, when he felt something odd underneath his hands. He jumped back instantly, and his eyes finally caught what he had his hands in. "Joey! What the hell is this stuff?" It was blue and thick, and it felt like slime on Ross' palms. 

Rachel shot her glance up and Joey cringed looking at the disgusting liquid dripping from Ross' hand. "I don't know." He rubbed his forehead in thought, "Oh! I cut that thing before it jumped out the window. Maybe that's it's…blood." 

"Eww!" Ross jerked his hands back and forth trying to get the stuff off of him, sending some splattering across Joey's shirt.

"Dude!" Joey hurried to the counter and pulled off some paper towels. He threw some to Ross before starting to clean himself off. After wiping as much as he could off, he threw the towels away. He looked from Ross to Rachel, and then at Chandler. "Let's get Chandler over to your place and figure out what we're going to do." 

***********

"Can you believe this?" Rachel turned her eyes briefly towards Phoebe, before looking back out at the lights in the sky. It had been an hour since the incident with Chandler, and there still hadn't been any fresh news on television. Chandler was lying down in the guest room, getting some rest. He was doing much better than he had started out. They all felt like he would be okay until they got him some real help, but still Rachel hadn't wanted to leave his side. Finally, after a little convincing, she let Monica take over for awhile. Ross was on the couch in the living room, watching the TV for any updates, while Joey was bringing over food and supplies from Chandler and Rachel's, "Just in case." 

"I always knew there was life out there." Phoebe counted the lights in the sky, still fourteen, no new ones yet.

Ross sighed, he was tired of all the crazy talk. "Who said it was aliens? No one. No one said those were spaceships up there, so let's just stop assuming things. Yes, we've got a problem, those could be military aircraft up there, they could want to attack the city, but we don't have any reason to believe that there aren't humans in those things, so let's stop freaking ourselves out."

Phoebe groaned and turned from the window. She knew her husband, and she knew that if there wasn't absolute scientific evidence to prove something true, Ross didn't believe it. "Ross, you had some of it's blood on your arm, and you're still not believing it was an alien?"

He stood from his seat on the couch, and joined the girls by the window. "Two things. One, we don't know if it was blood. It could have just been some blue gook the guy had on him for effect. Two, what if that is the same guy we saw on the way home from the store? Isn't it believable that after that guy saw how bad he freaked us out, he followed us home, and tried to rob us? I mean come on, he had to be thinking we'd be an easy target after seeing how scared we were. And if that was the case, he probably carried that blue glob of crap around for effect."

"I still think those are aliens up there." Phoebe shrugged as she walked into the kitchen towards the fridge. She knew Ross couldn't stand it when people didn't agree with him, but she wasn't going to lie for his sake. She was scared out of her wits, and it was all because of those lights in the air. She had the distinct feeling there was something evil up there, clouded in the night, hidden in the sky. And she believed that evil didn't come from Earth.

"Honey, come on," he threw his hands up in the air, amazed that his wife of all people was buying into all this ridiculous, unproven, hysteria. "There is not one single shred of evidence that those are aliens up there."

"There's not one single shred of evidence that those aren't aliens up there either." Phoebe grabbed a beer from the fridge. She usually didn't drink, but she figured if there was ever a time to pick the habit back up again, it was then. 

Before Ross could counter her point, Rachel chimed into the conversation, "Guys, look at this." Rachel sank onto the couch as the disturbing image appeared on their television screen. 

The screen showed a room that was like a jail cell, except instead of metal bars, it was clear all the way around. Standing around the outside of it were several men in white coats and even more men in plain black suits, armed with rather large guns. And inside was a person, or a thing that looked just like the figure they had encountered. It was tall, green, and had an excessively large head. It was pacing back and forth, looking extremely angry and excessively mean.

__

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Surgeon General and the Attorney General of the United States of America have released a joint statement that has changed the world. Along with the statement was this footage. It has not been doctored, edited, or enhanced in anyway. What you are seeing on your television screen is genuine footage that was shot in a holding cell at the CIA Headquarters in Langley less than an hour ago. Inside it, the first extraterrestrial to ever be captured by man…

It was caught in Baltimore, Maryland three hours ago by six Baltimore police officers. They captured it after a long struggle in one of the inner city parks, where it was seen lurking in the woods. Right now, one police officer is in critical condition at Johns Hopkins from being cut by a metal blade that scientists say extends from its middle finger when it feels threatened. Doctors at Johns Hopkins and scientists at Langley are both baffled by the sudden illness of the injured police officer. From the tests they've performed so far, scientists have determined that a blue poison escapes the end of the blade when the extraterrestrial encounters an enemy. Now inside the police officer's system, it seems to be slowly building clots in the veins around the wound.

As of now, officials, scientists and doctors are unsure of how dangerous the blue liquid is, or how hostile any other extraterrestrial might be, so they are highly recommending avoiding any encounters, and encourage everyone to simply run away…

Ross stared down at his palms, his mind racing as the faded blue remnants of the poison were obvious on his skin. Phoebe rushed over to him, inspecting his hands with her own eyes, but she too came to the same silent realization.

Rachel rushed into the guest room, causing Monica to jump a clear foot in the air from her place beside Chandler. "What's wrong?!" Monica managed to blurt out after her heart began beating again.

Rachel didn't answer, she simply searched Chandler's wound, looking for any trace of the blue substance.

And then there it was…A small blue stain just outside his bandage. 

Rachel's hand flew up to cover her mouth…the reality of the situation becoming too much to handle…

****

To Be Continued…

I hope you guys are still into the story, because it still has a lot more to go. I hope the cliffhangers keep you hooked. I'll try to get the new chapter up within the next few days. What do you want to read? More suspense, more drama, more action, more comedy? Let me know! You can do that by leaving a review or sending me some comments at ExiledSarcasm@aol.com**. **


	5. Knocks at the Door

****

Hey everybody, here's the next chapter, I hope you all enjoy it. It's a little short, but it's necessary to advance the plot of the story. Also, if you haven't already, checked out Friends - The Musical which has been recently updated. I appreciate all feedback on this story. Anyway, that's enough babble, enjoy the story.

Slowly, but surely, Chandler Bing's eyes slowly opened. He was slowly awaking from a sleep that, to him, seemed to last forever. As soon as he was conscious he felt a pounding in his head, and painful sting all over the left side of his body. He didn't remember much. Only that Rachel was in trouble, he tackled the figure, and then he felt a pain too unbearable to accurately put into words.

He slowly started to take in the things around him. He immediately noticed he was in the guest room of Ross and Phoebe's, and that he was alone. He sighed a breath of relief, figuring if he was in their extra bedroom things must not have turned out bad. He tried pulling himself up, but the pain was too much for him. He slowly lied back down, slightly out of breath from the physical strain, and wondered what everyone was doing out beyond the closed door of his room.

He didn't have to wonder for long, the door of the guest room opened and in stepped Joey, carrying a beer and looking as tired as he had ever been. "Hey." Joey smiled, surprised to find his friend awake. "Welcome back to reality pal." He took a seat on the edge of the bed and had another drink of his beer. "Did you sleep well?"

"Well I feel like crap." Chandler stretched out his arms, cracking the stiff bones. "And I would love it if someone would tell me what's been going on out there."

Joey nodded and sat his beer down on an end table. "I don't know where to start Chandler, so much has happened over the last few hours."

"What time is it? How long have I been out?"

Joey glanced down at his watch. "It's a quarter after three in the morning. You've been out around seven hours. And you've missed a lot. Right now we've got thirty unidentified flying objects hovering over the city, the government has captured a real life alien, the police and medics are no where to be found…"

Chandler interrupted him, "Where's Rachel?" That's what he really wanted to know. He was in this pain because he had wanted to save his fiancé, and now he wanted to be sure he had succeeded. 

"She's in Ross and Phoebe's room, laying down. She's had a pretty rough night, everyone has." Joey couldn't resist the temptation, and took another swig of his beer.

"So…what's the bad news then? There's obviously some bad news." Chandler braced himself, whatever Joey was going to tell him, he was sure it was something he didn't want to hear.

"Chandler, when that thing, in your apartment…when you tackled it, it stabbed you. Apparently, they all have this claw near their middle finger, and it comes out when they fight. He got you pretty good, but it's nothing life threatening."

"Then what's the problem?" Chandler ran his hand over the bandage on the left side of his chest. It hurt, no doubt about that, but it wasn't anything for him to cry about.

"All these aliens, they carry some kind of…for the lack of a better word, poison, in their systems…it's like a defense mechanism. And, when attacked, it uses it against its enemies. It got Ross with some, and…"

Chandler interrupted once again, "Is he ok?! How bad is that stuff?"

"They don't know yet Chandler. They're throwing around phrases on the TV. Blood clots, cell damage, comas…but it really just seems like their clueless. But, Ross isn't the only one who got infected with that stuff."

Chandler's eyes widened. He felt a dark cloud of fear come over him, not for himself, but for Rachel. He instantly found himself praying that it wasn't Rachel, and that she was ok. He didn't want any of his friends to be infected, but least of all the love of his life. "It's not…"

Joey shook his head, and noticed Chandler's sudden look of relief. "It's you Chandler." 

Chandler's face was expressionless. No wonder he said Rachel had been having a rough day, he couldn't imagine how he would feel had it been her that was hurt. He shook the thought from his mind and looked up at his friend. "Help me into the living room Joe. I'm ready to watch some television."

Joey nodded and started to help him up, "I don't know how entertaining it'll be. The same show is on every channel."

*********

Joey had helped Chandler onto the couch in the living room, where he could lay down and watch TV. Ross and Phoebe were curled up together by the window, where they had fallen asleep looking up at the lights in the sky. Rachel was still in their bedroom sleeping, and Joey and Monica had curled up together in the chair. Monica looked over to Chandler, who wasn't showing any real signs of being hurt. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Chandler moved his gaze away from the TV, over towards her. "A little hungry though." He raised his eyebrows towards her, giving off a very non-subtle hint. 

She smiled, knowing exactly what he was trying to say. She didn't mind cooking for everyone, she was a chef after all. "I'll whip something up alright?"

Chandler nodded, "Thanks Mon, I appreciate it." She nodded back as she got up and walked into the kitchen. As she walked away Chandler's eyes caught Joey's. "You look dead tired man." Joey's eyelids covered half his eyes, and he seemed to be using all the energy he had left to keep himself awake. "Just take a nap Joe, I'm pretty sure Monica and I can handle ourselves for a few hours."

Joey shook his head, "Nah, I'm fine. You never know when another…" Joey's words trailed off as his head slid to rest against the cushion of the chair. He was out cold, the sleep was too much for him to fight.

Chandler just smiled at his friend, while admiring his fortitude. Joey would always go out of his way to protect and take care of his friends, but never seemed completely comfortable letting his friends take care of him. This time, however, he didn't have a choice. His body wouldn't let him stay awake any longer. Chandler chuckled a little and looked into the kitchen at Monica. "So whatcha gonna make?"

"I'm not sure. It's practically morning and you just woke up, so how about some breakfast?" Monica pulled a carton of eggs out of Ross and Phoebe's fridge.

"Sounds good. Bacon too?" Chandler gave a fake puppy dog face to help convince her. For some reason he was extremely hungry. He figured it was probably because of all the physical exertion of the day before. He had done more running, jumping, fighting, and even thinking in that one day than he had done in years.

Monica smirked and shook her head. "Sure Chandler. Just let me run downstairs and get some." She picked her keys up off the kitchen table and slipped on a pair of sandals that were left sitting by the door. "I'll be right back."

"Ok." Chandler settled back down on the couch and turned his attention to the news reports on the TV, trying to catch up on everything he had missed while he was sleeping.

Monica eyed the door of Chandler and Rachel's apartment as she headed towards the stairs. It had been a long, weird night. It amazed her how different the world was compared to what it had been only a day ago. Everything had changed. Things she believed and held true only 24 hours before were completely false today. Her mind couldn't comprehend how much more she might learn in the next few days. As scary as it all was, everything happening was quite amazing once she thought about it.

She walked down the familiar staircase to the correct floor, and walked the short distance to her and Joey's apartment. She unlocked the door, and was thankful to find the all the lights on…she didn't want to be alone in the dark. She walked towards the freezer and began digging through the stacks of frozen goods. She always kept a variety of foods in the house, between her love of cooking and Joey's love of eating it was a necessity. 

She was able to dig out a few bags of frozen bacon and lay them on the counter. She dug into the fridge and grabbed the bottle of apple juice, she had noticed that Ross and Phoebe didn't have any when she was up there. As she closed the door of the freezer, she was surprised to find a face staring at her. 

A green one.

***** 

Chandler was flipping through the TV stations, but Joey was right, the same thing was on every channel. The same boring sound of newscasters' voice came blaring off the screen, and Chandler was feeling bored. He continued flipping until he heard a scream. His eyes lit up, finally a channel showing something different, even if it was a cheesy horror flick. He pushed down on the channel button, trying to find what station had the movie, when he heard the scream again. 

Then he understood…it wasn't the movie. It was Monica.

"Joey!" Chandler shot off the couch, and a wave of pain immediately came over him. He collapsed instantly, hitting the coffee table before hitting the floor of the living room. Between his shout and his falling, everyone was awake. Joey was out of his chair, Ross and Phoebe were getting up from by the window, and Rachel was storming out of the bedroom. "Monica! She's downstairs!"

Joey didn't wait for anymore of an explanation. He jumped over Chandler and the couch and stormed out the open door, Ross and Phoebe not far behind. He bolted down the stairs as fast as his legs would take him and made the sharp right turn towards his apartment. Their door was open, and when he entered he saw Monica, knife in hand, trying to fight off a crouching green figure. 

"Hey!" Joey shouted, trying to get it's attention. The figure turned away from Monica, looking for whatever it was that had made a sound. Joey began charging after it, but before he could reach it, Monica had the knife in its back. It let out a loud shriek as it was stabbed, and before it could recover, Joey shoved in into a closet, and closed the door. "Give me something to block the door with."

Ross, Phoebe, and Monica all started searching the apartment for things to put in front of the door. Ross spotted something first, "Help me with this!" He was at the kitchen table, starting to flip it over. All three of them picked up a side, and brought it to the door. Joey and Ross got behind it and shoved it underneath the doorknob, wedding it. "That's not enough." Ross glanced around the apartment. "The chair!"

Joey and Ross ran to a large cushion chair, both groaning as they picked up the large piece of furniture. They struggled to carry it over to the closet, but eventually were able to drop it in front of the table, and add more weight in front of the door. All four of them took a step back from the door, waiting silently to see what it's next move would be.

Phoebe whispered to no one in particular, "Isn't he going to try to get out?"

Everything seemed still inside the closet, no movement, no noise. Joey took a small step forward, trying to see if he could hear anything.

And suddenly, the creature began to scream. It was a loud, high-pitched, never ending shriek that seemed to tear through the whole city. "What's he doing?!" Joey yelled, covering his ears and quickly backing away from the door. 

They all started backing away from the door, as the shriek seemed to slowly die down. As it fell silent, they all were left with pounding heads and ringing ears. The girls collapsed together on the couch, trying to recover, as Joey found a seat in one of the kitchen table chairs. Ross was still covering his ears, still feeling shocked, as he stared blankly out the window. 

Monica slowly sat up on the couch, her eyes still squinted from the pain. "Ok…what the hell was it doing?" Everyone stayed silent, no one had the slightest idea what had just happened. 

Ross slowly stepped back from the window, his eyes widened at the sight outside. "I think he was calling from help."

"What?" Monica shot up from her seat and looked out the window with Ross. The street seemed abandoned, no people in sight. There were a few cars parked on the curbs, and some streetlights were flickering off to their left. But it was the contents of the right end of the street that scared Ross. Running towards their building were two green figures, moving faster than any of them had ever seen anything run before. 

Ross took another step away from the window. "Upstairs. Everybody. Now." They all took off, Joey leading the way, with the girls close behind. As Ross was closing the door of Joey and Monica's apartment, he heard their window break. He quickly followed his friends and sister up onto the next floor. "Hurry!" He shouted as he heard the door opening down below them. 

The four of them ran into Ross and Phoebe's wide open door and Ross was quick to close it behind them. He wasted no time locking every single lock on the door. Rachel glanced up from beside the couch, where she was helping Chandler get back up. "What the hell is going on?" Her eyes were widened by the sight of all her friends out of breath and freaked out.

Joey was bent over, his hands on his knees, trying to get his breath back. Between gasps, he managed to get out…"They're…they're coming."

There were several pounds on the front door. As if a dozen people were all knocking at once. Everyone's eyes flew to the purple piece building. 

Ross shook his head, "They're already here."

****

So that's the chapter. I hope you all liked it. The plot will really advance in the next few chapters, as we are approaching the climax of the story. What happens with the poison? What happens with the visitors at the door? Find out soon! Now, Review! Review people review! Next chapter up in a few days…


	6. Waiting it Out

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Hey guys, here's the new chapter. Sorry it took a few days but things have gotten hectic in my tiny little part of the world, so I had to deal with it first. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Before you start reading, I just want to mention geocities.com/gabesfanfics/comingsoon. On that page are banners and summaries of fics I have in the works. I'd love it if some of you would check it out and tell me which ones you would like to see next, by leaving me a message in a review or emailing me at ExiledSarcasm@aol.com**. Anyway, here's the chapter, read and enjoy.**

"They're already here."

Everyone in the room felt their hearts stop beating. The only thing that could be heard was the furious knocking at the door. Everyone seemed to be waiting for someone else to say something, but no one was going to speak. The pounding continued for a few more seconds that lasted for hours in the minds of the people inside. Then, it completely stopped.

Ross shook his head, "That can't be good." He looked back to Joey, who's skin was paler than Ross had ever seen it before. "I think we should all move to the bedroom. The one window is pretty small, none of them could fit through it. We could board it up, and we can put the dresser in front of the door. We've got the TV, we can wait it out." He ran a hand through his hair, trying his best to think, but unable to get passed the knocking still echoing in his head. "Joey, help Chandler into the bedroom." Ross didn't wait for a response He began giving out orders, while walking towards the closet in the back of the house. Joey only nodded and started helping Chandler.

His voice wasn't harsh, or loud, or even demanding. It was dreadful. Ross Gellar, one of the most articulate in the world, was almost mumbling. His friends watched and listened, unable to argue with any of his requests. It suddenly seemed that Ross Gellar was out of hope. It became clear to them all that he didn't think they were going to make it through the night. His voice gave it all away. He was silently asking, "What's the point of fighting?"

He opened the closet door. He began ruffling through the closet, before the object of his search was visible. He had pulled out his golf clubs. "Everybody grab one." Joey walked out of the bedroom, where he had just escorted Chandler, and headed towards the golf bag. "Rachel, take one for yourself and take one into the bedroom for Chandler. I'm gonna guard the door. Joey, guard the windows by the balcony." Joey nodded solemnly, and walked towards his post, keeping his watchful eyes alert to everything outside the thin glass. 

Ross began walking towards the door. "Pheebs, hun, head to the bathroom, grab some toilet paper and any other hygiene products we might need for the next few days." He sighed. "And a bucket. We're gonna need a toilet." Everyone cringed after thinking about it, but no one had any objections. "Monica, start grabbing as much food and drinks as you can and take it to the bedroom. Rachel can help you out." Glass was heard breaking in the apartment above them, followed by a loud thump. "Let's hurry."

Footsteps were clearly heard on the floor above them. Several pairs of feet were shuffling around, knocking things over and kicking down doors. Everyone in the apartment moved silently, mechanically, doing their job as quick as possible. Phoebe had carted most everything she could think of into the bedroom, and was now helping Monica and Rachel carry the food.

"Guys," Joey's eyes caught a pair of legs, barely hanging down into his vision. "Let's make this the last trip. Grab everything you can." The girls gathered as much as they could carry, and headed into the bedroom. Ross grabbed the cordless phone, along with as much food as he could carry, before making his way into the bedroom. Joey was the last one inside, and he quickly closed the door behind him.

Ross and Joey moved to the end of the dresser that sat against the bedroom wall. Ross calmly spoke, "One, two, three." Simultaneously, the two men began pushing as hard as they could, sending the large, heavy piece of furniture to it's new location in front of the door. Both backed off it, slightly out of breath. Ross nodded, "That should do us for now." He clasped his hands together as he thought about what to do next, when he suddenly noticed something. "Oh my god."

"What?" Phoebe was quick to respond. Everyone was so jumpy lately, the slightest surprises seemed to be heart stoppers. 

Ross glanced down at his hands, "The blue. It's gone." His eyes ran over his palms, where the remnants of the blue poison once were evident. Everyone except Chandler, who was stuck on the bed, came over to look. And sure enough, it was gone. Ross sighed, "I don't know if this is a good thing or a bad thing."

Rachel smiled up at Ross, "I bet it's a good thing." She nodded and walked over to where Chandler was resting. "Chandler, brace yourself for a second, I'm going to check you're wound." Chandler nodded and prepared for pain. Anytime someone touched his wound, he felt the effects for hours. He bit down on his bottom lip as Rachel slowly lifted up his shirt. The site was startling.

Chandler's blue hadn't disappeared, far from it. It had expanded to such a degree that most of Chandler's left side was covered in a light blue tint. Rachel took a step back, trying her best to tear her eyes away from the blue, but wasn't able to. Chandler could tell instantly something was wrong, but was too busy dealing with the pain to look. He managed to grunt out, "What is it?"

But no one wanted to answer. The sight was bad enough to make Joey wish he was blind. His best friend lied before him, sprawled out in pain, being eaten alive by something Joey couldn't begin to comprehend. He felt helpless. "Chandler? Do you feel any worse than you did before?"

"I'd say so." He mumbled out as his faced cringed from the pain. Chandler knew the pain would last a few more minutes, and he was silently praying that he would just pass out. 

Joey figured most of his discomfort just came from Rachel touching his wound, and not the blue liquid spreading throughout his body. He exhaled and turned towards Ross. "This is bad. They said they guy from Baltimore didn't live 24 hours." Rachel's face dropped. She knew the situation was bad, but they had kept her away from the TV enough so that she didn't understand the seriousness of Chandler's problem. Joey swallowed hard, "Rach…"

She shook her head to stop him from talking, and walked to the corner of the room, sinking down onto the ground. Her face fell into her hands, as she sat there sobbing, trying to come to terms with everything. She scooted closer to where Chandler was lying. He was slowly but surely catching his breath. His eyes were closed, and he was too busy writhing in pain to hear what was going on. Rachel took his hand in hers, and tried her best not to cry.

The other four stood silent on the other side of the room. So much was happening so fast, and it was hard for them all to digest. But among all of the chaos and confusion of the last few hours, one thing was made painfully clear, their friend Chandler was dying, and they were running out of time.

Phoebe was the first to break the silence, with a barely audible whisper. "Maybe we should turn on the TV. See what new updates there are." They all nodded their approval and Monica walked towards the TV, clicking it on, and turning the volume up just loud enough to hear. 

__

They have been sprouting up around the country, and the world, at an alarming rate. Lights have been reported in the sky in over 300 major cities around the world. At night they are clearly visible, but during the daylight hours these Unidentified Flying Objects are using some type of stealth technology, keeping them hidden in the sky. Government officials say no official contact has been made with the extraterrestrial beings, but until proven otherwise the United States Government is assuming these visitors are hostile.

Several of these aliens have been spotted around the country. Quite a few have been reported in New York City alone, and reports from the city support the government's hostile theory. No attacks have been reported as of now, and it is assumed that most residents are locked safely inside of their homes. A curfew has been in effect in the city for several hours, and is not scheduled to be lifted until noon tomorrow at the earliest.

The captured specimen in Washington has not helped scientists and military strategists find a major weakness, but preliminary reports do show that their bodies are physically just as sensitive as those of human beings, but still seem to be mentally superior. A press conference on the Baltimore police officer attack is scheduled to occur in a few minutes, and we'll take you there live when it happens…

"Looks like we still have some waiting to do." Monica commented as the TV flashed commercials across the screen. Even world changing news couldn't stop the networks from wanting to earn some advertising dollars. 

"I hope they've figured out something. I can't take much more of this mystery." Phoebe sat down on the bed, careful not to cause Chandler any discomfort as he lied on the other side, talking to Rachel. She felt bad for them both, they were going through more before their marriage than most couples did during the duration of theirs. She couldn't imagine what would happen to Rachel if she lost Chandler.

Ross walked close to the bedroom door. "It's gotten awfully quiet out there. What do you think is going on?" Ross couldn't understand the creatures that were after him, and it drove him crazy. They were there, then they were gone. They were loud, then they were quiet. They were fighting, then they were running. They showed no consistency at all, and Ross couldn't stand it. He liked things simple, factual, or even probable, but constant spontaneity wasn't acceptable. He didn't know how could anyone succeed at anything without a plan of action, but the aliens seemed to be doing quite well.

The TV flashed the network's "Breaking News" logo across the screen as the commercial break ended. Monica glanced back at Rachel, "Honey, you might want to watch this." Rachel nodded and stood up, slowly walking away from Chandler and towards the TV. Monica turned up the volume and waited for the press conference to start. A short, bald man with thin black glasses stepped up to a small podium. A small curtain was draped behind him, with the John Hopkins logo behind it.

__

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. As all of you know, a few hours ago a patient was brought into this hospital after being attacked by an extraterrestrial. The victim of the attack had a large cut on his chest, and was infected by a blue liquid that for the time being is being called "Lorenez," named after the police officer, Lt. Jonathon Lorenez, who has been infected with it. The damages of Lorenez have been heavily analyzed over the last few hours, and number of hypothesis have been developed. The main theories of these are blood clots, red cell damage, and heart stoppage. 

However, as of 45 minutes ago, Lt. Jonathon Lorenez fell into a coma. He is in stable condition, almost in a state of complete hibernation. The blue stain of Lorenez has spread all across his body, evident on all of his skin except that on his face. Doctors are working hard to bring the lieutenant out of his coma, as are monitoring his progress carefully. We now recommend that if anyone is infected with Lorenez, they report immediately to a hospital. Life support systems will most likely be needed to keep you stable if a coma does occur. As of right now, that is all the information we have for you. I won't be answering any questions…

Monica turned the TV off, and stared back at her friends. "What do we do? There's no way we can get him to a hospital." The situation was grim. No one had any answers. 

Ross stuck his hands in his pockets. He had been trying to play the role of leader, but he was running out of solutions. New problems were popping up before he had the chance to solve the old ones. "We just have to hope he lasts until tomorrow." Everyone's silence was taken as acceptance of Ross' judgement. "Someone should tell him what's going on."

Everyone's eyes went to Rachel. It only seemed appropriate that she give him the news. They knew it would be hard for her, but it was a moment the two of them were going to have to get through together. Rachel brought her hand to her face and cleared away the few stray tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "Ok. I'll do it." She took a deep breath, and walked back to where she had just been sitting with Chandler. The other four in the room huddled in the opposite corner, giving the couple as much privacy as possible.

Rachel kneeled down beside him. He was quiet now, his breath was steady, and he just seemed to be fighting the pain. He didn't know what everyone else was talking about, and he was in too much pain to care. He assumed that when Rachel came before him, tears in her eyes, the news couldn't be good.

"Chandler…I've got some bad news. These doctors in Baltimore…they've been looking over this man who has the same injury as you…and, well, the good news is so far it hasn't been deadly…"

Chandler nodded, "But…"

"But, the man is in a coma now. He fell into it less than an hour ago, and we think that's what's happening to you. The blue is spreading over your body pretty quickly, way faster than we all expected…" She squeezed his hand, "But it's going to be fine. You, are going to be fine. I promise. I know it's been a crazy night but we've got it all under control now, and if you can just stay with me until daylight…we're going to get you some help."

Chandler couldn't stand the sight of her crying. It tore him apart inside. He loved her more than he could put into words and in that very moment he couldn't put together the strength to hug her, kiss her, or even squeeze her hand. Slowly but surely he felt himself losing control of his body. He could see the fear in her eyes, the fear for him, and he had to look away. The physical pain he had been suffering was nothing compared to what watching her cry did to his heart.

"Just trust me Chandler." 

"I do." Such simple words. Two words he planned on saying to her again someday. 

He did trust her. He nodded his head, and closed his eyes to push back the tears. But when he tried to open his eyes again, he found that his eyelids would not separate. He felt a strange feeling overcome the tip of his toes, and winced as he felt it rise slowly up his body. Chandler Bing felt as if a cloud of darkness was descending upon him, like he was trapped in a windowless room that had no lights, and no one was around to help him out of it. The feeling climbed above his waste, past his stomach, and through his beating heart. He felt it rise through his neck, he managed to mumble, "Rach…" before he enhaled it through his nose, and he went numb as it passed over his eyes.

Rachel stared down at him, figuring he was going to finish his sentence, but the rest of it never came. She cocked her head to the side, and squeezed his hand, "Chandler?" His chest moved up and down steadily, a clear indication that he was still very much with them, but still she got no answer. "Chandler?"

Her four friends stood in the corner of the room, muffling their sobs, trying to be as silent as they could be. They all wanted to speak, to comfort her, but they couldn't find the words.

Chandler Bing was in a coma. No words were going to change that.

****

That's the end of the chapter, I hope everyone enjoyed it. Be a pal and drop me a review. If you want to be a bigger pal, check out geocities.com/gabesfanfics/comingsoon and check out my upcoming fics. Then drop me a line at ExiledSarcasm@aol.com** and tell me which of them you want to see released after the conclusion of Hidden in the Sky. Anyway, thanks for reading! Review! And the next chapter will be out in a few days.**


	7. Miracles and Decisions

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Here's the new chapter. In it a lot of things will happen that you wouldn't think could happen. But hey, it's a fanfic, it's allowed. I'm proud to see that this story has made some people's favorite stories list! Makes me a very happy person. Enjoy!

The glass of the living window shattered, sending a terrifying echo throughout the apartments. The thumps outside the bedroom door could only be the sound of bodies entering their humble abode. The five of them stood still, staring at the door, hoping and praying whatever was on the other side of the door would simply go away. The movement of the doorknob made it clear that they weren't going anywhere. 

Someone was trying to open the door. But the unbelievably heavy dresser kept anyone, or anything, new from entering the bedroom where they were hiding and waiting. Three subtle knocks were heard from the other side, and all five of them stood silently in shock, all gripping their golf clubs tight. Then the knocks started to get louder, harder, and more frequent. After a few seconds it was nothing but a constant pounding. Whatever was knocking on the door certainly knew they were there.

Chandler Bing's eyes flew open. They had only closed a few minutes ago. He quickly sat up on the bed where he was lying, scaring the hell out of his friends. They screamed at the sudden movement, and he screamed at their screaming. When everyone realized what was going on, they all quit yelling, and much to their surprise, the knocks had stopped too. Complete quiet fell over the apartment once again.

Rachel ran over to Chandler, who was breathing heavy, sweat glistening all over his body. "Chandler!" She was in shock. They all thought he had fallen into a coma, and now, a few minutes later, he was awake, looking like he wasn't in any pain. "I thought we had lost you." Chandler looked up at her, confusion painted all over his face.

"What's going on? Who was pounding on the door?" Everyone looked at him wide-eyed. He didn't remember a thing. Rachel raised her eyebrows at him, unsure of what to say. She slowly reached her hands down to the bottom of his shirt, and gently lifted up so that she could look at his wound, and see if the blue had spread or retracted. 

"Oh my god." Chandler looked on oblivious to what was happening around him, as Rachel revealed Chandler's wound, or lack there of, to her friends. Everything was gone. The large and deep cut along the side of his body, and the blue tint that had started to consume his skin both had disappeared. Chandler Bing was awake, and in perfect health. The echoes of "Oh my god"-s came from the rest of the group as they looked over his skin, amazed by what they saw.

"What is everyone oh my god-ing about? I know my chest isn't that sexy." Chandler Bing was back, along with sarcasm, humor, and the complete package. 

There was no time to explain the situation, or rejoice in the miracle that had just occurred, because the visitors outside their bedroom weren't going to give up too easily. A sharp blade came slashing through the wooden door, causing all of them to jump. The blade started to cut a circle in the wood. It was obvious that whoever was controlling the blade was trying to make an entrance. As soon as Ross realized what was happening he lifted his golf club and began to swing at the blade.

It didn't falter. It kept cutting a large circle in the door, one big enough for any of the creatures they had seen to fit through. They were in trouble, and Ross knew it. "Everybody back against the wall. We'll just have to go after them as they enter." Everyone stood behind Ross, crowded back against the wall opposite the door, hoping for another miracle, when something they never expected happened. The small bedroom window busted into pieces as two pairs of green arms reached in, and grabbed hold of Monica. Everyone reacted quickly, Rachel and Phoebe began hitting the arms with their respective golf clubs, while Joey and Chandler tried prying them off of Monica.

Nothing was helping. While the group was trying to help Monica, Ross was busy beating on the blade that had almost completed its circle. Monica screamed as she felt a strong tug on her body. The figure pulled her out of the broken window, carrying her in its arms. Joey lunged after her, but he couldn't reach. The alien was somehow hanging on to the edge of the building, just out of Joey's grasp, staring back at him, when suddenly, Joey noticed the scar on it's arm.

It was the same alien he had stabbed in Chandler and Rachel's apartment earlier that night. And it wanted revenge. 

Joey knew by the look on its face that it recognized him. He tried thinking fast, but he wasn't fast enough. The alien looked him dead in the eyes, and then it dropped Monica. Joey screamed as he watched his wife fall from its grip. They were several stories up, and below them was nothing but concrete sidewalk and street. The screams of Joey and Monica meshed together for a few brief moments, until Monica's body hit the street in front of their building, and all was silent.

The site was enough to kill Joey. He stared down at his wife, lying still on the concrete, a pool of blood slowly leaking out from under her body. Ross, who was still fighting off the blade in the door, had no idea his sister had just died. He looked back to his friends, all-staring out the window. "What's going on?" When no one answered, he turned his body and sighed, "Hey! What's going on?"

All four of them slowly turned from the window. Ross wasn't sure what to make of the looks on their faces. Then it hit him, "Where' Monica?" 

Before anyone could answer him, the circle had been finished in the door, and several green figures could be seen standing on the other side of it. "Ross!" Chandler yelled while running towards him, attempting to get him out of harm's way. But it was too late; the same blade that had cut the hole in the door was now being swung towards Ross. Chandler dove for his friend, but he wasn't faster than the alien who was attacking him. The blade connected with the front of Ross' neck, and it dug an inch into his skin, before it was retracted back into the hand of the alien it came from. 

Ross tried screaming, but his vocal chords were no longer working. The blood poured out from his jugular vein, and his eyes began to roll into the back of his head. Rachel fainted at the sight and Phoebe began to scream. She was watching her husband bleed to death. Before she could make any futile attempts to help him, his body hit the floor.

Joey's arms fell around Phoebe, and he turned her eyes away from the Ross' body. Chandler was on the floor next to Rachel, trying desperately to wake her before more trouble headed their way. Little did he know that trouble was already there.

Chandler stared down at his fiancé, his hands shaking her body. "Rach! Come on babe you have to wake up! More on are on their way." His attention was so fixed on Rachel that he never noticed the green figure standing above him. It wasn't until a sharp blade came crashing down on Rachel's chest that he realized one of the aliens had entered the room. She was in so much shock from Ross that she never felt herself die. 

Chandler jumped off his feet and rushed towards the alien. One of its long green legs connected with his chest, sending him backward onto the large bed in the center of the room. Joey had pushed Phoebe against the wall, and he stood in front her, golf club in hand, ready to protect her. The alien that had just kicked Chandler slowly approached him, as did two that had already crawled through the large hole in the door. 

Joey swung his golf club at the one that had kicked Chandler, and hit him right between the eyes. It stumbled backward towards the window and shrieked in pain. Before Joey could raise the club to swing again, one of the other two aliens tackled him onto the ground. Phoebe screamed in terror as she saw Joey crumble to the ground under the weight of one of the aliens. She never saw the other one approaching her. 

Phoebe's scream went silent as a cold steel blade pushed into the back of her skull. Within a second Phoebe Buffay was on the ground, deceased. Chandler Bing was slowly coming to on the bed. He pushed his body up off the bed and his eyes darted around the room. He had a sharp feeling of doom when he didn't see any of his friends.

He screamed as he saw his best friend Joey pulled off the ground by an alien, and thrown through the same window his wife had been. Chandler cringed as he heard Joey's scream on the way down, and winced even more when he heard the impact. Joey landed exactly two feet from his wife.

Chandler screamed and stood up on the bed. He counted four aliens in the room, and he knew that he wasn't going to make it out alive. They started to close in on him from all directions, and Chandler could think of nothing to do but say a prayer and wait for the end. The four aliens had surrounded him, and simultaneously they all began to stab his body with their sharp metal blades. 

*********

Monica, Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, and Joey all stared at their friend in shock. Only a few minutes ago he had fallen in to what they assumed was a coma. And now, his body was jerking up and down on the bed, as if a million sharp needles from all directions were poking him. Joey looked over at his friend Ross; "He must be having one hell of a dream."

"I'll say." Ross scratched his head as he watched his friend continue to move around on the bed. "I wonder what he's dreaming about." No one had an answer. A second later, his body had stopped moving, and he was lying peacefully on the bed. Ross turned to his friends. "We have to get him to a hospital. It's too risky for him not to be on any life support systems. Waiting here is no longer an option."

Monica sighed, "What are we supposed to do Ross? They're just waiting out there. The second we leave this room they're going to be on us. There's no way we'll make it to a hospital. We're going to have to stay here and take our chances with Chandler." Everyone was silent for a moment. There was a lot of thinking to be done. 

"I'm taking him to a hospital." Everyone's eyes went to Rachel. "I don't care if I have to go alone. I won't take any chances with his life. If none of you want to help me, fine. But I'm not going to stay here and wait for my fiance to die." Rachel pushed passed everyone that stood in her way, and walked to the bed where Chandler was resting. His breathing was heavy and sweat poured off his skin. His body was working extra hard to do normal functions. 

"I'll help you." Ross stepped forward and rested his golf club over his shoulder. "We have to try. He doesn't have a chance unless we do." Rachel smiled and Ross nodded at her. He wasn't going to watch his best friend die. He would put up a fight.

Joey sighed, "We're all going." His eyes went to Monica and Phoebe, who still hadn't said anything. "We have a much better chance if we stick together. There are tons of abandoned cars down on the road, we're bound to find one that still has the keys in it." Neither Monica or Phoebe objected, neither had the heart to. And it was decided, they were going to make a run for it.

"We should check out the news before we go. Get some last updates before we take off." Monica stated and walked to the TV. She hit the power button and watched the screen flicker to life.

__

Ground troops have been assembled in Washington, Houston, LA, and New York City. Military leaders have gathered in the Pentagon to plan out America's strategy in this new war. This is the first time battles have been fought on American soil since the Civil War and the statement just released by the President makes mention of that fact.

The group watched on in awe as the image of the president appeared on the screen.

__

"Every possible step to avoid fighting has been taken, but our opponents show no signs of goodwill or willingness to negotiate. We regrettably have to fight this battle in front of our homes, schools, and places of worship. But it is a battle we will win swiftly, and convincingly. We ask all Americans to stay within the safe confines of their homes and let the men and women in uniform handle this situation. Everything is under control."

Joey sighed and turned away from the TV. "Well, it's gonna be a fun trip."

****

That's the end of the chapter. Sorry it was so short, but it's late and I'm tired. Next chapter will be up in a few days. And I hope Chandler's dream fooled you all lol. Drop a review!


	8. Escape from Apartment 20

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Here is the new chapter guys. I know it's been awhile but with the 9/11 anniversary and then the stopping of those innocent Arab guys here in Miami, my life's been crazy. Being as patriotic as I am, and being a civil liberties fighter like I am, I have been busy discussing issues with a lot of people. But, it's over and done with and now back to the exciting life of writing fanfiction, enjoy!

Silence.

All that was heard outside their bedroom was complete and utter silence. Ross Gellar pressed his ear against the door, straining to hear anything that might have been lurking in their apartment. He waited another moment, and then finally backed away. His eyes fell over his friends, "It's quiet out there. I can't hear anything."

They all stood there silently, unsure of what to do next. They knew they were running out of time, and they knew they had to go, but none of them really wanted to open the door. They all had said they would make a run for the hospital, but saying it and doing it were two different things. Finally, Phoebe broke their awkward silence. "So is it quiet, or is it too quiet?" She followed up her question with the same look she always had after asking a ditzy question, the look that only Phoebe could give. 

Ross looked to his friends for help, but they were as clueless as him. No one was quite sure what she meant. "I'm not sure honey…what exactly do you mean by 'too quiet'?" 

"You know…like in the movies, when the characters are in a dangerous situation, and everything gets quiet. And they think because it's quiet everything is ok, but it's really not ok because it's not just quiet, it's too quiet."

Blank stares from all directions.

Phoebe sighed and threw up her hands, "Never mind, let's just go." Everyone nodded their approval and Joey moved to pick up Chandler. According to their plan, he would carry him until the other five found a car or truck for them to use. Once Joey had Chandler secure in his arms, he gave a nod, and everyone else raised their gold clubs in the air. Phoebe gently placed her hand on the door knob, and after a deep breath, opened the bedroom door. 

Everyone stood still, and stared out into the living room. None of them saw anything, but that didn't mean that something wasn't out there. Ross whispered, "Follow me." He slowly crept into the living room, his golf club held out in front of him, ready to strike upon anything that threatened he and his friends. They all slowly made their way out of the bedroom, and toward the door in the kitchen. Ten eyes never stayed still, they constantly moved around the room, looking for any sign of another life form.

Ross opened the door that led out into the apartment building's hallway. A few other apartment doors had been busted in, which immediately made him feel like they could be lurking around any corner. He quickly made the short walk to the stairs, and led the group of six, only five conscious, down the stairs, towards the building exit.

"So far so good." Monica mumbled as they all worked their way toward the building's front door. Ross was in front, followed by Phoebe, Joey carried Chandler behind them, while Monica and Rachel stuck together and brought up the rear of the pack. Ross pushed open the building's front door and for the first time in hours they all breathed fresh air…or what was considered fresh air by NYC standards. 

Ross stopped just outside the apartment building. His eyes roamed the street for anything kind of motored transportation, but saw none. "There's nothing around here!"

"Everyone's already ran away." Rachel commented as she too searched the street for something to use. Her eyes suddenly lit up, "Over here!" Rachel began running down the narrow street, and the other four had no choice to follow, even though they still hadn't seen whatever it was that she had. She led the way across the street, and it suddenly became clear what she was going for. 

Ross shook his head, "You have to be kidding me." The sound of horses rattled threw the abandoned street as Rachel jumped into it's carriage. Phoebe and Monica were climbing into the seats while Ross looked on. "You can't be serious. A horse and carriage?" 

Joey lifted Chandler into the cart, Phoebe and Monica helped rest his body against one of the seats. Joey glanced at Ross before he jumped into the carriage with the rest of the group. "I don't see any cars Ross. No trucks, no vans, no buses…This thing will do. At least until we find something different." He offered his hand down to help Ross up, and he reluctantly took it. 

Joey grabbed the reigns and whipped them into the air, hoping it would encourage the horses to move. It didn't. Monica sighed and stood up, "No, no, no. You have to yell at them." She took the reigns from Joey, as she whipped them into the air she yelled, "Yah!" They still didn't move. Monica let out a frustrated groan and whipped them even harder. "Go! Go you stupid…"

She was jerked off balance as the horses got the message and started to run down the empty city street. Ross and Joey stood on opposite sides of the carriage, golf clubs in hand, ready to hit anything that might have tried to attack them. They rode four blocks in the carriage without seeing a car, truck, or anything of the like, when suddenly, Monica pulled up on the reigns and brought them all to a halt. She pointed off to their right, where an open bed truck was parked halfway on the sidewalk. "I see a truck!"

"I see trouble!" Off to their left were three green figures, staring right at them. Ross hopped off the carriage, but kept his eyes fixed on the three beings who were looking right back at him. "Pheebs, you stay by Chandler, Monica get down here with me, Rachel and Joey, you two go see if you can get that truck started." 

Strange sounds started coming from the aliens' direction, causing Monica to worry. "What are they doing?" She hopped off the carriage and made sure she had a firm grip on her golf club, her last line of defense.

"Sounds like they're having a conversation." Ross mumbled as he stole a glance back at Joey and Rachel who were now sprinting towards the truck on the other side of the road. He quickly brought his attention back to the three creatures, and hoped they would just go away, although his common sense told him it wouldn't happen.

"What are they talking about?!" Monica was nervous, she would never admit it, but the creatures terrified her. She had always prided herself on being a strong and tough woman, but there was something about the aliens that made her blood turn cold. She didn't like them.

"Probably not the weather," Phoebe commented as she stood over Chandler's body on the carriage, her golf club held firm in her grip. Monica rolled her eyes at the sarcasm and shifted her weight back and forth between legs. She was extremely nervous, and was silently praying that she would hear the truck's engine start soon.

Joey was relieved to find the front door of the truck unlocked. "Watch my back," he told Rachel as he crawled into the driver's seat and started his frantic hunt for the keys. He pulled down the sun visors, searched under the seats, and looked through the glove compartment, but he found nothing. "I can't find any keys." He told Rachel as he reached under the wheel, and pulled off the bottom cover. With a strong pull he brought out a group of wires that were taped together.

"You're going to try to hot wire it? Do you even know how to do that?" Rachel was aghast as she looked on at her friend. She doubted Joey would get the car started, and as the green figures started to move closer to her friends, and fiancé, a sense of helplessness started to fall over her. Things were starting to fall apart.

"I did it on an episode once." The comment didn't reassure Rachel. She knew NYPD Blue was a respectable show, but she doubted they showed Joey the real way to hot wire a car. Or even if they did, she had trouble believing Joey remembered how to do it. She watched as his hands moved from wire to wire, checking them all. She shot him a questioning look when she saw that his hands had stopped moving. He met her look, "I need something to cut these with." 

Rachel searched the area around the truck, looking for any kind of sharp object. Joey urgently searched through the truck's cabin, knowing that time was of the essence. The aliens were beginning to move towards his friends, and every minute away from a hospital was damaging to Chandler. Rachel ran back to the open front door, "I can't find anything."

Joey sighed and looked up at her, when his eyes widened. Rachel froze in her place, the look she got from Joey instantly made her fear the worst. Joey slowly sat up from the floorboard, and moved towards her. He was staring at something she couldn't see, which was only frightening her more, to the point that she didn't even move. His hand was slowly reaching for something above her head. She flinched when she felt him make contact with something on her head. "What was it?"

He slowly pulled his hand back so she could see what he had found. It was a pin that she had in her hair. She let out the breath she was holding, and he smiled, "Thanks Rach, this will work fine." He bent back down to work on the wires under the steering wheel. "Now keep a look out, this might take a few minutes."

Ross and Monica had their backs pressed against the carriage. They had been unconsciously backing up for several minutes, trying to keep distance between them and the creatures that were approaching them. They were out of room.

The three aliens spread out as they got closer, one coming straight toward them, while the other two approached from the sides. "Once they get in range, just start swinging and don't stop," Ross instructed Monica as his eyes became fixed on the alien in the center. The two creatures on the side were constantly looking back to him. "I think the one in the middle is the leader. Maybe if we get him down the others will panic." 

"Or get really pissed off…" Monica mumbled as she gripped her club tight. They were almost within striking distance, but they seemed to be as nervous about attacking them as they were about defending themselves. They inched a little bit closer, when a sound startled them. The sound of an engine. 

Each of the three took a few steps back, unsure of what had just happened. Monica quickly took her eyes off the alien to see where her friends were, and she was relieved to see Joey running toward her with his golf club out and ready. The alien on her side quickly ran away from the sprinting Joey, and sought cover behind the alien in the center. Joey stopped beside Monica and looked over the aliens who seemed to be talking to each other. "Monica, go help Rachel and Pheebs get Chandler into the bed of the truck. When you got him in there, yell for us."

Monica nodded, happy to be relieved from the difficult job. She ran around to the other side of the carriage, where Phoebe was guiding Chandler's body down to Rachel. After some intense pushing on Phoebe's part, Rachel had Chandler's upper half in grip, and Monica was getting a hold on his legs. Once they were sure they had him, they began to lightly jog towards the truck. Phoebe ran along side them, holding all of their golf clubs.

All three of the aliens had regrouped in front of them, standing together in a small pack, speaking together in a series of shrieks and gargles that neither Ross or Joey could understand. Ross didn't look at Joey as he talked to him, "What do you think they're talking about?"

"Maybe they're debating if I'm the guy they've seen on TV." 

Joey smiled at his own joke, but he got no reaction from Ross. Ross looked back at the girls, who were guiding Chandler's body into the back of the truck. "They're almost ready." Ross and Joey slowly started taking steps away from the aliens, awaiting the girls to give them the word. As much as they hated the creatures in front of them, they'd much rather run then fight. 

"We're ready!" Phoebe shouted as she hopped into the driver's seat. Ross and Joey didn't waste a second, both turned around and immediately started sprinting for the back of the truck. The three creatures stood confused as they ran away, but after a moment, they began to run after them. Joey looked back and widened his eyes at how fast they were moving. 

"Jump guys!" Rachel yelled from where she was standing beside Chandler's body in the back of the truck. Ross and Joey both dove from the ground and landed hard onto the bed of the truck. "Go!" Rachel shouted at the girls, and Phoebe put the petal to the metal. Before they could get away, one alien made a dive for the truck.

Rachel swung her club hard, as if she was a major league baseball player, and connected with the alien's head. It's body went flying backwards onto the ground, and it's head went flying through the air. As they sped away, it looked as if it would never end.

"And a grand slam by Rachel Green! The Yankees win!" Joey shouted and smiled from where he was lying on the bed of the truck.

Rachel returned the smile, and enjoyed the momentary feeling of happiness that fell over her. She sat down in the truck, and let the wind blow through her hair. She stared down the road and hoped that they would be lucky enough to get to the hospital without anymore trouble.

Luck owed them a favor.

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That's the chapter, I hope you enjoyed it! I promise the next one won't take a week to get up, but like I said it's been a crazy week for everyone. Be a friend, drop a review, and tell me what you thought. Also, check out some of the other fanfics I'll be dropping on Fanfiction.net during the next few days. Next chapter up soon! Talk to you guys later!


	9. Blackout

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Here's the new chapter. I know it's been awhile, but I unfortunately don't have the time during the week to write, so it all has to be done on the weekend. The pace of the fic will pick up in this chapter, since there are probably only going to be three or four more chapters. Things will get more intense, and the climactic level will rise. Or at least I hope it will. Lol, here's the chapter. I hope you all like it.

Luck owed them a favor, and it finally came through.

Five minutes after Rachel's alien grand slam, the truck skidded to a halt in front if the closest hospital. "Run ahead and get a doctor!" Ross instructed his wife and Monica as he and Joey worked on getting Chandler's body out of the truck. Monica and Phoebe pushed through two of the hospital doors, expecting to find a busy waiting room, buzzing from the events outside. What they found was an empty room, no patients, family members, nurses, or doctors in sight. 

"Hello?" Monica's call echoed through the abandoned hallways. Monica took another glance around before looking to Phoebe, "Where is everyone?" The entrance of Joey, Ross, and Rachel, all carrying Chandler broke the silence. They too stopped in their tracks when they noticed the emptiness of the waiting room.

"Can I help you folks?" A man in a green military uniform appeared from behind two silver doors. He was well over six feet tall, had short blonde hair and piercing green eyes, his muscles almost burst out of his shirt.

"Our friend here was attacked by an alien, he has that blue liquid, that Lorenez stuff, in him. We need help." Ross explained while still doing his best to hold Chandler. His friend wasn't exactly heavy, but he suddenly realized he desperately needed to relieve himself. The encounter with the aliens by the truck had scared him more than he had first thought.

The man in uniform seemed to think Ross' story over. After a moment, he motioned towards the doors he had just entered through. "Follow me." 

*******

Ross, Phoebe, and Monica all sat in a small snack room, waiting for Joey and Rachel to return from wherever it was the uniformed man had them take Chandler. They were all more than a little nervous. The eerie silence of the hospital still made them feel like they were in jeopardy. Before their minds could wander any more than they already had, the same military man they had seen earlier entered the room. "First things first, my name is Sgt. Ford. I just wanted to inform you all that your friend is being attended to by some of the remaining hospital staff. They'll get you some news as soon as they have it."

"Um, excuse me sir? What's going on? Where are all the patients and doctors?" Ross couldn't help but asking. They had spent most of the night getting their information from the television, Ross thought it would be nice to have things explained by a human being, in laments terms. 

"Most of the doctors and nurses were moved to hospitals with medical staff shortages. About two hundred people, patients and doctors, are being kept here on the two basement floors for their own protection. When the rest of the cavalry," he pointed to the United States Army badge on his jacket, "moves into town we'll be using the top floors of this building as one of our command posts. Then we'll proceed to blow up, shoot, and destroy anything with green skin."

"Sounds good to me." Phoebe mumbled. Their conversation came to a momentary halt as Joey and Rachel entered the room. Rachel's eyes were filled with tears and Joey was holding her close. He guided her to a chair between Phoebe and Monica and sat her down. Phoebe glanced up at Joey, "What's going on?"

"They won't tell us much. All we know is they are operating on him. But, for what it's worth, the doctors did seem optimistic." They all sat in silence. They had done everything they could, and their friend's life now rested in someone else's hands. They were relieved to be rid of the responsibility, but nervous that it fell into the lap of a stranger. 

"If it's ok," Sgt. Ford broke the silence; "I'd like to ask you all a few questions about your night. Seems like you've had a lot of contact with these creatures. Can you think of any information that might be useful to us in our fight? Anything at all." He clasped his hands together and looked over the five friends, waiting for any of them to answer.

"Well," Ross spoke first, "They can definitely communicate with each other. There were several different times when they seemed like they were having conversations." Sgt. Ford nodded.

"And don't forgot about that shriek," Joey added.

"What shriek is that?" Sgt. Ford perked up in his chair. Finally, he was getting some new information.

"We locked one of them in a closet. And after a few seconds, he let out this loud, ear-piercing shriek. The loudest thing I've ever heard. It lasted about a minute, and once it stopped, we saw another three aliens come running towards us. It was like a distress call or something. An audible SOS."

"A shriek, huh? Can you be more specific? What exactly did it sound like?" Sgt. Ford pulled a small notepad out of his jacket and began to jot down some notes.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud shriek echoed through the hospital.

Ross jumped out of his chair. "It sounded just like that." The shriek sounded just like the one they had heard back in Joey and Monica's apartment. It echoed throughout the hospital, and everyone in the snack room, including Sgt. Ford, held their hands over their ears, trying their best to block out the sound. It was more than a little painful to listen to. 

Finally, it stopped. Ross was the first one to uncover his ears. "Where was that coming from?" Everyone in the room slowly stood up, regaining their composure. The ringing echoed through all of their ears, like a telephone that never stopped ringing.

"There's no way those sounds came from the basement, there's too much concrete between floors. And there are only a few other people on the top floors…" Everyone shot everyone else a glance, all thinking the exact same thing. Without a word, all six rushed the door, all six heading for the same place.

All six heading towards Chandler.

*******

Six figures burst into the emergency room where Chandler Bing was being kept. Sgt. Ford led the way, his gun held out in front of him, five thirtysomethings following close behind. He kicked through the steel double doors and aimed his gun at anything that moved. Five doctors jumped away from the operating table Chandler was lying on. Ten hands raised up in the air in surrender. "What the hell is going on in here?" Sgt. Ford yelled, still searching the room for anything suspicious.

Doctor Ismail, the hospitals head doctor, stepped forward. "We've finally got him awake. We think we have the problem fixed."

Sgt. Ford slowly lowered his gun, fitting back inside its holster. "What was that shriek?" After hearing that he was awake, the other five in the room eagerly moved toward Chandler. They wanted to see with his own eyes that he was ok. 

"Wait!" Dr. Ismail took a step forward. "Don't touch him. We still have an incision to close, we can't have you infecting it." Ross, Rachel, Phoebe, Joey, and Monica all stopped in their tracks, then slowly backed away. "Thank you." The doctor turned toward Sgt. Ford. "Now, the shriek, I don't know about. We woke him up, he screamed, end of story. Now will you all please leave the room so we can finish our job?"

Ross looked to Sgt. Ford, utterly confused. "That sound came from Chandler?" Sgt. Ford shrugged unsure what to make of it. Ross glanced back at Chandler's body, and took notice that the entire blue tint had vanished from Chandler's skin. As hard as he tried, he couldn't put the pieces together. He had been trying to solve the mystery since it started, and it drove him nothing short of crazy to be unable to figure it out. He sighed, "Well I don't care what made that sound, if any of those things heard it, they're on their way here."

Joey nodded, "He's right. We should expect the worse, we're all probably in danger right now."

Before anyone else could comment, the room went black, and the loud groan that accompanied the loss of power was heard in the background. "Damn it!" Doctor Ismail screamed. "Why isn't our backup power coming on?" Everything inside the room went black. After a moment, a beam of light flicked on from one of the corners. It was Dr. Ismail; "I found a flashlight." He stepped back toward Chandler's body. "We have a problem here. Someone needs to get down to the breaker room and get our power back up. We're losing his stability."

Joey looked to Ross, Ross looked to Ford, and Ford looked to Joey. Without words, the team was picked.

********

The three of them slowly walked down a narrow set of stairs, Ford holding his gun and a flashlight out in front of them, Ross and Joey both clinging to their trusty golf clubs. Even after their several encounters with the aliens, they still didn't feel comfortable coming into contact with them. Especially in the dark. "The technical basement should be two more floors down." 

Ross was happy to hear that. "So far so good." They took slow, cautious steps down the stairs, hoping they would hear anyone or anything approaching long before it got to them. Ross and Joey were hoping luck was still on their side, but getting out of the night alien-free seemed impossible. They knew those things just never went away.

"Here we go." Ford said as they came upon a small wooden door with a piece of paper duck taped to it that read "Technical Room." Ford turned back to face the other two gentlemen. "Alright, if those things are what caused the power to go off, then there's a good chance that they are in here. If they're smart enough to shut off the power, they're smart enough to know someone is going to come down here and fix it. So just be ready for anything, alright?" Ross and Joey nodded, and with a slight hesitation, Ford pushed the door open.

It was completely black inside. The room was so large that the flashlight could barely shine all the way across the room. The ceiling was so high you could fit a tank inside. There was a lot of room for something to hide. 

"The power box has to be along the wall somewhere." They hugged the wall, and began walking around the perimeter of the room. Ford led the way, his flashlight and gun held out in front of them, providing them vision and protection. They were anxious to get the power back, not only for Chandler's safety, but to ease their own fears as well. Things just weren't as scary when the lights were on.

Their pace quickened as they came to the first corner of the room. Ford mumbled as they made their first turn, "Chances are it's along this wall somewhere. Just keep feeling around for it." And they did. Three hands covered every inch of wall that they passed by, grabbing for anything that could even resemble a circuit box. But still, as they came towards the far corner of the room, they found nothing.

"Damn it! Where is the stupid thing?" Joey exhaled in frustration. He wanted out of the basement. He wanted to know that Chandler was going to be ok, he wanted to be next to his wife, and he wanted to hear that all the aliens were gone. So far, he wasn't close to getting anything that he wanted.

"Here it is." Ford popped open a small metal door and revealed a series of wires and circuits. "This hospital has some of the most sophisticated technology in the world, yet it's circuit breaker is as simple as the one you'd find in your apartment. Amazing." Joey and Ross watched their backs, ignoring Ford's ramblings, impatiently waiting for him to get the lights back up. "I can't figure out which switch it is."

As Ford continued flipping, the sound of something tripping was heard behind them. "What the hell was that?" Ross yelled and held his golf club out in front of him. "Hurry up and get the lights on, I don't think we're alone in here." Again, the sound of something moving came from the darkness of the room. "Yeah, definitely not alone…" Ross was starting to lose control. He wasn't sure how many more attacks and surprises he could take. He wasn't an action star; he was a schoolteacher.

Then there were the faint gargling and shrieks that had become so familiar. Joey felt his heart stop beating. "We're in trouble." The sound of movement became louder, and it became increasingly clear that there was more than one of them inside the room. The basement was so large that neither Ross nor Joey could pinpoint where the noises were coming from. The echoes played too many tricks on the ears.

"Got it!" Ford yelled triumphantly and flicked a switch. With a loud whine, the hospital came back to life. The lights and equipment on the above floors turned back on. And after a moment, the lights inside the basement also began to shine. 

Joey, Ross, and Ford all stood in complete shock. They couldn't believe their eyes. Spread throughout the room were dozens of aliens, all staring right at them. Ross quickly tried to count how many were in the room, but gave up after he counted to thirty, figuring it wasn't going to matter anyway. They were as good as gone.

Joey's voice cracked as we spoke, "So…should we try to fight?" He looked to Ford, the military man, hoping he would provide some miraculous solution.

Ross' voice was barely audible, as he too looked to Ford. "Should we make a run for it?"

Ford stared wide-eyes at the creatures in front of him. "I don't know…" He tried to control the involuntary shaking of his body. He had seen combat, he had killed, and he had lived through several under the table missions in the Republic of China. But he had never been as scared as he was in that moment. "But if you would like to apologize to God about anything…I'd do it right about now."

****

We're reaching the final chapters of the fic, so the pace will pick up and the plot will get more intense. I'll try to get another chapter out this weekend, cause like my bio says I just don't have the time to write during the week. I hope you all enjoyed it, be a friend and drop a review. And check out the new chapter in my new fic "All the Deadly Sins." 


	10. The Creature In Charge

****

Here's the next chapter. I know it's been forever but I lost the Internet for awhile so posting became impossible. But my AOL is back and so am I. I hope you all still want to read. Enjoy.

It didn't look good.

Ford held the gun, their final and seemingly useless line of defense in front of him. His hand was shaking uncontrollably, any military skills he had seemed to vanish. Fear had taken them over. They stood unmoving, their eyes wide open but looking at nothing in particular. Their heads buzzed with activity, their minds thinking about everything yet thinking about nothing at all. They were going to die, and their souls were busy accepting that.

It was a daze that not even a hundred aliens, blades extended from their hands, growls sounding from their mouths, could interrupt. The world was endlessly white, like a TV screen at the end of a videotape. It was almost symbolic - the end of a videotape…the end of their lives.

If they had been aware enough to feel it, they would've been scared out of their minds.

And then it happened again.

*******

The shriek tore through the empty hospital. Once the power switched on, so did Chandler Bing. His body sat up instantaneously, as if the power had completely restored his life. He sat there quietly, rubbing the back of his head, unaware of the amazed doctors and his shocked friends that were staring right at him. 

Dr. Ismail slowly approached him, his eyes still wide. "Mr. Bing? Can you hear me?" 

Chandler's eyes shot up to the doctor. He was surprised to find anyone near him. "Of course I can hear you, I'm not deaf." Chandler rolled his eyes and glanced around the room, it was then that he noticed the large number of people in the room. His eyes scanned through the white coats of the doctors and landed on the one person he was dying to see, Rachel. The charming smile he didn't know he had crawled across his lips. But it didn't stay there for long.

Chandler felt a small twinge of pain in his stomach. He was about to say something to the doctor when he felt the rising of fluid inside his stomach. In one quick motion he turned away from the crowd of people and bent over the railing on the bed. A second later, he was vomiting. 

Dr. Ismail rushed to the other side of the bed to try to help his patient, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the mess on the floor. He glanced at Chandler, who had just stopped convulsing, and was regaining his breath. His eyes narrowed in thought as he stared at Chandler's vomit. He turned to his white-coated colleagues; "It's blue. All of it. He vomited up the virus."

Dr. Ismail took a few steps backward to grab a large plastic container and a pair of surgical gloves. He bent down next to the pool of blue liquid. "I have to get a sample of this. This is history in the making."

"Oh my god," Chandler stared down at the mess he had just created. "What kind of nasty hospital food did you feed me?"

*********

It was an amazing sight. And a very welcome one.

Hundreds of green bodies were flying out the doorway, all of them acting as if the three human men didn't exist. They didn't know if the shriek they had just heard came from Chandler or some other alien, but either way, they were happy for the distraction. The three men stood silently, slowly coming back to life from the daze they had all been experienced. None of them dared speak a word until the last of the alien life forms were outside of the room.

"What the hell just happened?" Ross lowered his golf club to the ground and leaned back against the wall. He hated the situation he was in. Ross Gellar liked to be in control, and at the moment, he felt about as hopeless as he ever had. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't figure anything out. Absolutely nothing around him made any sense.

"I'll tell you what, that shriek works wonders. It's like the lunch bell at a high school." Joey nodded, and involuntary, he thought about how nice lunch sounded.

"We need to get upstairs. If that sound came from your friend, then that's probably where all those things are headed." Sgt. Ford re-equipped his flashlight to his belt and began walking toward the door. He wasn't in any hurry to get back upstairs, but he knew he had to go. It was his job to protect against any enemy, foreign or domestic. He was sure after all of this, the term extraterrestrial would be added to the list.

"We finally got these things to go away, and now we're going after them. We must be crazy." Ross said as he began to follow Sgt. Ford out of the room. Joey nodded his agreement and followed his friend out of the room. The night seemed to have the same pattern. Escape danger - then walk right back into it.

******

Chandler was on his feet, supporting his own body for the first time since he had been attacked. He couldn't explain why, but he felt great. He held his fiancé close to his body, wrapped in his arms, as they both watched the team of doctor's seal the plastic medical bag filled with the virus Chandler has just puked up. He wasn't sure why they wanted to save his upchuck, but at the moment he didn't care. He was just happy to be alive, and with his wife to be, safe and sound. 

Too bad he wasn't as safe as he thought he was. The doors of the room burst open and in marched a massive group of green bodies. Everyone in the room jumped backward as the mass of aliens filed in. They crowded into the back corner of the room as the seemingly endless line of green bodies continued to flood their space. The distance between the group of aliens and the group of humans was growing small, when finally; the stream of green life forms stopped flowing into the room. For a moment, the two groups, one human, one alien, stood staring at each other in silence. The humans were scared. The aliens were waiting.

After another silent moment, it became clear what they were waiting for. The doors of the emergency room slowly crept open, and a tall, muscular figure stepped into the room. His footsteps echoed throughout the hospital thanks to the silence that his demeanor commanded. His skin was a darker green than his fellow aliens were; it was almost pitch black. The sneer on his face never seemed to go away as he stared at his troops, and then at the group of humans, crunched together in the corner, terrified for their lives.

The figure's bare, muscular chest pushed outwards, and then retracted back in as he took in a deep breath of air. His nose cringed noticeably, as if everything around him stunk. He turned toward the massive group of aliens, who stood silent and motionless in his presence. He looked as if he was about to speak, when the doors of the ER once again flew open.

Joey, Ross, and Sgt. Ford came barreling into the room, golf clubs and guns out and ready to be used. They didn't expect to find the entire army they had just seen crowded into the hospital room. All three stopped dead in their tracks, all realizing the huge mistake they had just made. Before they could turn and retreat, a trio of aliens moved out of their motionless state and stepped in front of the door, blocking the last remaining exit.

The three men slowly moved toward the group of humans on the other side of the room. If they were going to die, they at least wanted to be with their loved ones when it happened. Joey, Ross, and Sgt. Ford walked close together, inching their way towards their friends. They came across the black figure in the middle of the room, and tried to stay as far away from him as they could. They were slowly moving by him as he stared right at them, nothing but pure evil in his eyes. They were almost out of his reach when he lunged toward them.

"Ahhh!" The same scream escaped the lips of all three men as they made one final jump toward the members of their race. The tall alien in the middle of the room had only faked an attack. Apparently it was joke, because he was laughing.

Sgt. Ford was pissed. An alien, in the middle of a hospital room, in his country, on his planet, was laughing at him. It took everything he had not to shoot him right then.

The alien sensed his anger, and smiled. He seemed strangely human like to be from another world. He walked toward the mass of humans in the corner, seemingly taking joy in all of their fear. "You look scared." His voice boomed outward in perfect English. It was deep and powerful, it instantly reminded Ross of Darth Vader. "You should be scared. You're all going to die soon." A laugh escaped his lips as his arms folded across his chest. Ross swore he had to be half-human.

"But first, I should probably take this." Before anyone figured out what he was referring to, his large hand quickly swung downwards and removed Sgt. Ford's gun from his grip. He tossed the gun aside before looking back to the group of humans. "So, who's going to be first?" The fire red pupils of his eyes moved from person to person, studying their faces, enjoying their fear. His eyes stopped on one person. "You. I know you."

His arms reached forward and grabbed hold of Phoebe before anyone could try to help her. He pulled her body against his bare skin and wrapped his forearm across her neck. If she tried to move, she'd choke herself. "Number 73863. That's you isn't it? I knew I recognized you."

"What are you talking about?" Phoebe screamed, her arms clutched around his large forearm, trying to put some space between his skin and her neck.

He smiled at her futile attempts to get free. "You can't just invade a planet without scouting ahead first. You see, we've spent the last five years channeling humans on this planet. Haunting them with dreams and nightmares, hallucinations and visions, just to get a better understanding of the human mind. Most of the people we channeled ended up in jail or mental institutions. But not you, 73863. No matter how many nightmares or hallucinations we put into your head you didn't break. You didn't say a word to anyone. You hid it from everyone you knew. Didn't you?"

Every human in the room stared blankly at Phoebe, waiting to hear her response. Had their friend really been hiding things from them? Had she been having nightmares and hallucinations without telling any of them? It seemed they would never be sure, because Phoebe had her lips shut tight. She refused to say anything at all to the aliens or to her friends. She didn't want them to die thinking badly of her.

"Phoebe?" Ross questioned her, the confusion evident in his voice. He couldn't believe it. Aliens had channeled his wife and he didn't have a clue about it. How could he not have noticed? He spent every moment he could by Phoebe's side…surely he would have noticed some kind of sign that something was wrong. And then he remembered. The night before everything had started --

*****

"Phoebe, what is coming?" All thought of sleep had left him. All he wanted was to find our what was bothering his wife so much.

"That's the wrong question Dr. Gellar." Dr. Gellar. She rarely called him that. It was a name she only used in a teasing manner…or in a seductive one.

"Then what is the right question?" 

She was silent for a moment, as if she was deciding whether or not she could trust him with her information. She didn't blink, she barely seemed to breathe…she just stared at him, she was blank.

"The right question isn't 'what is coming?' The right question is…'who is coming?' "

*******

It wasn't a dream after all.

****

See the prologue was there for a reason lol. Next chapter up soon.


	11. Welcome to New York

Ross stood silent, in awe of the realization he had just come to. The alien wasn't lying. "It's true," he mumbled to no one in particular. 

The tall black alien smiled in satisfaction. He was having fun. His eyes fell over Phoebe, who was set to be his first victim, the fire red pupils slowly took in all of her body. He admired the human form…but he loved to destroy it. Before he could begin his mechanical dismantling a startling sound echoed throughout his ears. 

Millions of footsteps could be heard tapping in sync with each other. The whining engines of heavy machinery blasted throughout the hospital. The leader's gaze darted around the room in a confused panic, "What are those noises?"

Sgt. Ford was smiling wide. He knew that he might die, but the familiar noises coming from outside the hospital assured him that the alien scumbags in front of him were going to die along with him. He looked directly into the eyes of their leader. "Sorry pal, the cavalry has arrived. Your party is over." Sgt. Ford recognized the sounds outside as those of marching soldiers and standard military tanks, and the smile wasn't leaving his face. He knew they came ready to fight.

"Everybody!" The alien shouted as he turned toward his army of green figures. He then continued to yell at them in their native language of gargles and shrieks, his free hand waving about in anger and frustration. The group of humans looked on in horror and confusion, unsure of what instructions the creature was giving. Within moments, the large army of green figures began filing out the door, their claws out and their jaws clenched, obviously ready to fight. The leader's grip on Phoebe tightened as he walked toward the door, shouting at his soldiers as they left for battle, pumping them up.

Ross held on tight to his golf club as he stared at his wife, held against her will in the clutches of evil. After a few moments, the room fell silent, as it had been emptied of all the green foot soldiers. The leader dragged Phoebe along side of him as he reached for the door, beginning to close it. Ross saw this as his one opportunity to stand up for himself, and he took it. He sprinted toward the alien, golf club drawn over his head, a look of pure intensity painted over his face. The sound of a sweeping club filled the room, and then a crack was heard as it made contact with the side of his skull. Phoebe pulled loose from his grasp, falling to the floor, and crawling away from the creature as fast as possible.

The leader hit the ground hard, a dark hand covering the wound caused by the golf club. Sgt. Ford didn't waste anytime trying to rescue everyone in the room. "Everybody out!" he shouted. His gun was drawn in front of him as he held open the door of the ER; his eyes fixed on the still moving alien. All the doctors in white coats ran out of the room, stumbling over each other in their haste. One of them carried the large plastic bag filled with the Lorenez virus.

The bag of blue liquid caught Sgt. Ford's eyes. That bag was too dangerous to just be thrown around in the midst of chaos. Sgt. Ford yelled to the running doctor. "Where are you going with that bag? Bring that back here!" But the man wasn't turning around, he was too afraid to even look back. Ford turned and was going to run after him, but he decided his biggest worry was still the leader.

But those few seconds that Ford turned his back was all that the leader needed. As the four friends tried to help Phoebe to her feet, Ross continued to pound the leader with his golf club. But all he was doing was fueling his fire. The alien swung a foot back against Ross, knocking him clear across the room. The strength of the leader was greater than any of the other aliens the group had encountered. He was on his feet in an instant, and a large dark foot connected with Sgt. Ford's back as he was staring down the hall. The gun went flying out of his grasp as his body hit the floor with an echoing thud. The leader grabbed both of the double doors and slammed them shut, locking out Sgt. Ford and anyone else crazy enough to want inside of the room.

********

Dr. David Lieberman wasn't really a doctor. His real name was Steven Goldberg, and in his hand he carried a sample of the most deadly virus the world had ever seen. It worked quickly, infecting a human being, and knocking into the coma in less than a day. After 24 hours of infection, a person was dead. Sure, doctors, and Steven especially, knew very little about the virus, which would make infecting mass amounts of people difficult. But the lack of information is what made it so dangerous. Steven would find a way to terrorize the world with his new toy. He guaranteed it.

Alert flashed through his head as he heard Sgt. Ford call after him. He thought that in everyone's confusion no one would notice him leaving with the virus, but the sergeant had. Steven chose to ignore the man's shouts and keep on running. Hopefully he wouldn't have the time or the energy to chase after him. Through the mass of running doctors, the emergency exit stairwell came into Steven's sight, but a noise from behind him caused him to stop in his tracks. There on the ground, next to his feet, was the gun that Sgt. Ford had been carrying. Steven bent down to pick it up, and looked down the hallway to see Ford slowly rising to his feet.

Ford called down to him. "Hey! Bring me back that gun! And that virus!" Ford began to run toward the fake doctor, and the only thing Steven could think to do was run away from him. But, as he turned around, he ran right into two doctors waiting arms, one of which being Dr. Ismail, the other Dr. Jackson, both ready to keep him from leaving until Sgt. Ford got there. 

Steven managed to slip form their grasp temporarily, and gained that one second of freedom he needed. He pulled the trigger on the gun he had just picked up, and fired a bullet into the head of Dr. Jackson, sending his body lifelessly to the ground. Dr. Ismail looked on in shock, unable to move. He never noticed the gun being pointed his way.

Sgt. Ford yelled as he sprinted down the hallway. "No! Wait!" But it was too late. A bullet was fired into the chest of Dr. Ismail, splashing droplets of blood against the hallway wall as his body slowly sunk to the floor. "No!" Ford shouted again as he closed in on the lunatic gunman.

Steven pivoted on his heels, turning quickly to face the sprinting Sgt. Ford, who was only a few feet away from him. The gun was quickly aimed at his body, and two shots were fired just before Ford was able reach him. The bullets tore through Sgt. Ford's chest, the impact sending his body backwards, causing him to hit the floor with a thump that echoed throughout the now empty halls. 

Steven Goldberg looked over the three bodies, finally realizing the seriousness of what he had just done. And a smile spread across his face.

***********

Chandler and Joey just couldn't stand by idly. They both charged the leader, Joey with his club raised in the air, Chandler with nothing but his fists and feet. The alien smiled as they ran toward him, he did enjoy a good fight. A right hand reached upwards to stop Joey's swinging club in mid-air, while the alien's left foot made contact with Chandler's chest, sending him backward toward the three girls. The alien then slapped Joey with his left hand, causing Joey's ears to ring so loudly he could barely hear. 

The three girls huddled together in fear near the back wall, looking on in horror as the men in their lives failed to defeat the creature in front of them. A sadistic grin passed over the alien's dark lips as he slowly approached the cowering females. It was tradition on his planet that the woman and children were always killed first in battles. The one's that survived would be sold into slavery. 

A wicked laugh was emitted as his hands extended toward them, the blade slowly creeping out from behind his middle finger. He ran it dangerously close to each of their throats, daring any of them to make a move. But they didn't have to, because a gun shot from outside of the ER distracted the alien. And then another shot. And then two more. "What now?!" He turned to look out the door of the ER, but he was met by Ross Gellar, and a fist to the face.

The alien stumbled backward, struggling to regain his balance. He fell all the way to the wall, then used it's solidity to get himself balanced. The three girls scrambled away from him, each running away in a different direction. His large dark palm made a grasp for all of them, and although it missed Monica and Phoebe by inches, it locked a grip on Rachel's hair. He began to pull her backward toward his body, that evil smile spreading over his face once again. 

Chandler's eyes were locked on the figure. Adrenaline flew through his veins, palms rolled into fists, and he began running toward the leader as fast as his legs would take him. He refused to let his girl be the first victim. Chandler dived for the figure, hoping to tackle him to the ground, giving Rachel time to get away. But the alien had other plans.

The dark palmed released Rachel, and the leader's body was turned toward the diving Chandler. The alien stepped forward, and with both of his arms extended, caught Chandler, and pulled him into his grip. One dark arm wrapped closely around his throat, the other arm put out in front of him, blade extended, threatening anyone who dared tried to help Chandler.

A laugh rolled passed the alien's lips. "You people never give up." His grip tightened around Chandler's throat. "I think it has something to do with this city." His dark voice boomed throughout the room as he looked over the group of aching humans. "Out of every person we tried to channel, it was always the New Yorkers that tried to fight it the most. That's why we decided we had to take this city first…we had to get you persistent little pests out of the way. We studied this city intensively, and we expected the exact kind of resistance you are giving us now. You might think you still have a fighting chance, but you don't. We know everything there is to know about you. We've seen everything you have to offer."

Chandler felt a growing sense of altruism. If he could sacrifice himself for the rest of his friends, he was going to do it. He new the fight had to end soon, or the alien would simply wear them down. Chandler sighed as he struggled for breath. "So you've seen everything in New York, huh?" His hands tried their hardest to pry the alien's arm off of his neck. "Tell me, has anyone given you the finger yet?"

The alien stood silent for a moment, thinking about what Chandler had just asked him. Then a roaring laugh was emitted from deep inside his gut. "No. No one has." The leader did know what he was referring to, a simple gesture of the hand that showed a human's displeasure for another being, event, or act. It had actually taken them a long time to decipher what the gesture meant, but after seeing taxi drivers continually display it on the highway, its meaning became clear.

Chandler smirked. "Well then…" Chandler pulled his right hand off of the alien's arm, where he had bee desperately trying to pull it off. Instead, he raised it over his right should in a fist. "I guess there's a first time for everything." Chandler never raised his digit. Behind his middle finger, his skin tore, and a painful scream ripped through him. Quickly, just like he had seen a dozen aliens do before him, a blade drew out from his skin, sharper than any knife on planet Earth. With a slight flick of the wrist backward, the blade tore through the skin of the alien's skull. It ripped through his dark forehead, stabbing into its brain.

A deafening shriek was heard everywhere in NYC. The body of the leader fell limp, causing the blade to cut upward through its brain, cutting the top half of its head in half. The body slid off the blade, and hit the body with a thump that none of the six could hear. Their ears were still ringing from the shriek.

Their eyes were still wide with confusion.


	12. Epilogue

****

Epilogue

An army never fights without its leader.

The leader's final, ear-piercing shriek was the signal for rest of the army to abort. By noon that day, there wasn't a living alien left in New York City. By sundown, the skies of the entire world were reported all clear. The aliens had left.

The gang had spent the six hours following their terrifying ordeal in an isolation chamber set up by the US Army. It was a bacteria free zone, where they spent the time slowly regaining their hearing, which had been temporarily taken away from them by the leader's powerful shriek. They spent the time in the arms of one another - Chandler holding Rachel, Joey holding Monica, Ross holding Phoebe. They were all silently coming to terms with everything they had been through. They all were glad it was over.

After their hearing returned, and they were cleared to leave their isolation chambers, the gang spent another four hours in questioning. They told the army officials that they had overpowered the leader, and used his own blade to kill him. The truth just seemed too risky to tell; the last thing they wanted was for Chandler to become the subject of military science projects. They never spoke of Phoebe being channeled either. They just wanted their lives back.

The news of Sgt. Ford and the doctors' deaths shocked them all. They of course, just like the military, didn't have a clue about what had happened in that hallway after the alien closed the doors. They were busy trying to save their lives.

None of them knew that at that very moment, Steven Goldberg was driving south in his beat up Chevy pick up truck, heading toward the sparsely populated area of Eastern Kentucky, right in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. In his passenger seat was a small plastic bag, which held the only active sample of the Lorenez virus left on Earth. The world wouldn't live in safety for too long…not if Steven had anything to say about it.

The gang finally returned to their broken apartments at sunrise the next morning. Ross and Phoebe's place had been hit the hardest. Every window had been broken, most of their dishes smashed, and all of their furniture had been cut up. Monica and Joey's place was hit the least. The aliens that rescued their friend had destroyed the closet, and the main window had been broken from where they all had entered. Chandler and Rachel's place would need some repairs. The windows were shattered and their living room was a mess. Luckily, the bedrooms had been left alone, which the couple took as a sign to hit the sack, and not for sleeping, as per usual for the two of them.

A month after that final night in the hospital, life was almost back to normal. All the apartments had been repaired, with some improvements, which the girls found to be fabulous. Joey's celebrity status reached all new heights, and the offers to star in action movies just kept rolling in. But Joey was already committed to another film, one Chandler was writing about their whole adventure with the aliens. 

The publicity Monica got was free advertising for her restaurant, where business began to boom after the whole incident. "Monica's" was being franchised, and branches were being opened up all across the country. Inspired by the romantic heroics of Chandler during that final showdown, Rachel wrote yet another erotic novel. It sold more than all of her other books combined. She surpassed Nora Bing as the queen of women's written erotica. Opportunities to make money came Ross and Phoebe's way just like they came to everyone else, but they both decided to decline them. They agreed their lives weren't meant to be in the spotlight. They loved being normal people - hanging out with their friends, living in their humble apartment, and teaching at the local high school.

The six of them had survived the worst of times. But somehow, someway, they found the courage and the strength to save themselves, each other, and the world.

Now they were living their dreams. And they deserved every minute of it. 

****

The End.

That's it. That's the end of Hidden in the Sky. I hope you all enjoyed the fanfic, because it was a blast to write. I even left the ending open, because after having some talks with some of the fans of this story, the idea of a sequel based upon the stolen Lorenez Virus had come up. But right now, since I am back in the writing mood, my focus will be on finishing All the Deadly Sins. I hope you guys enjoyed the story, and the ending. Drop a review and let me know how you felt about it.


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